


Two Eds and a Bro

by hetaliared



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Dubious Consent, F/M, M/M, Sexual Content, Underage Drug Use, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-02-10 08:38:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 43
Words: 101,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2018379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hetaliared/pseuds/hetaliared
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since his parents have gone missing, 16 year old Edd has been staying with his best friend Eddy and his family. Unknown to Eddy, Edd had harbored a crush on Eddy for a while. To make things more complicated, Eddy's brother moves back in and decides to introduce the two teens to his decadent lifestyle. COMPLETE.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter one

“Eddy. Eddward. It’s time to wake up!” A hoarse voice called from the other side of the door. Eddward awoken at six in the morning and had gotten ready before anybody in the house was awake. He had been counting his ant farm before the matriarch of the McGee household had called them from behind the door. Eddy, on the other hand, was still sleeping like a log. 

“I’ve been up for quite some time, Mrs. McGee.” Double D announced, opening up the door. “But I’ll wake Eddy you for you.”

“You’re a peach,” The plump middle-aged woman with a lit cigarette in her hand smiled warmly. “He promised to help me move Matthew’s boxes today.”

“I’ll inform him of his responsibilities.” Double D quickly changed the subject to satiate his own curiosity, “Have Mother and Father been found yet?” The sixteen year old inhaled sharply, hoping for a miracle that his beloved parents have been found. Edd’s parents went missing after returning home from a business trip. A missing persons report was filed soon after and Eddy’s mother agreed to let Edd stay with them until his parents were found. After a month, some of his belongings were moved into Eddy’s room. 

Eddy’s mother sighed, “I’m sorry, Eddward. I wish I can tell you that I know where Marian and Sam are.”

“Much obliged,” His eyes were downcast, “I want to thank you for your kind hospitality these last six months. I am grateful that you would allow me to live here even though I’m not family.”

“Don’t mention it, sweetheart,” she coughed after taking a puff from her cigarette, “you’re a good kid. Shame that my two boys are not as respectful as you are.” Edd could only smile, not wanting to badmouth one of his best friends from childhood. Sure, Eddy was foul-mouthed and crass, but underneath that was a guy that cared deeply for his friends and craved acceptance from others.

“Well, I suppose I better get ready. We have a long day ahead of us.” Before he could say anything else, she was already heading down the hallway about to do her daily routine. Edd turned towards the sleeping lump that took over three-fourths of the bed that cocooned himself under the purple blanket. Eddy was a bed hog. The fact that Eddy’s bed could fit him, Edd, and Ed comfortably didn’t matter. Eddy still stretched out his arms and legs when they both went to bed. 

“Eddy, wake up,” Edd shook his friend from his slumber. Eddy mumbled in his sleep and rolled over on his side. Edd sighed with annoyance at his friend’s unwillingness to get himself out of bed. He knew of another way to get his friend out of bed without resorting to painstaking trying to replicate counterfeit money to flash in his friend’s face. Edd’s fingers ghosted over Eddy’s midsection and began their dance as Eddy squirmed and laughed. 

“Ah, c’mon Sockhead! It’s Saturday! Can’t I sleep in today?” Eddy said between laughs, “Alright! Alright! I give! I give up! I’m waking up! I’m waking up! Geez, Sockhead!” Eddy sighed with relief once he stopped being tickled. “Why did you wake me up?”

“Well, Eddy. Your mother wanted to make sure you made good on your promise to help her move boxes for a certain Matthew fellow.” Edd explained.

“Uh-huh,” Eddy nodded, sneering, “Having him move in would be as fun as having my teeth pulled.”

“Why Eddy. I think it’s wonderful to have a new house guest. They might want to share the tales of adventures they have taken to various parts of our vast planet. They might also be a poor well-educated soul who is looking to stay here while they complete their degree. Can you imagine hearing chatter about what goes on in college?”

“In your dreams,” Eddy rolled his eyes, “you don’t know who Matthew is. Do you?”

“I cannot say that I’ve ever met the guy before,” Edd admitted.

“Oh you’ve met him before,” Eddy grinned at the confusion written across the intelligent teen’s face. He wrapped his arm around his friend’s waist and mimicked the person’s voice, “I like you, Girlfriend! You’ve got spunk!”

Edd paled when Eddy gave his impression of the person that he remembered not to fondly. “Your brother is moving in here?!?” 

Edd shuddered at the memory of Eddy’s brother. They had met him when they were 12 years old. After a long day trip of traveling out of the Cul-de-Sac to the amusement park Mondo A-Go Go, they found Eddy’s brother by complete accident, thanks to Eddy’s lie about his brother being a whaler. Edd, Ed, the Kanker sisters, and the kids of the Cul-de-Sac discovered the truth about Eddy’s brother; he was a lowlife that did not think twice about abusing his own little brother.

“Eddy, this might be a dangerous situation. Let’s not forget the callous way he treated you when we were both prepubescent boys.”

“He hated kids,” Eddy shrugged, “but think of it this way, Sockhead. I can still get into his good graces since I’m not a kid anymore.”

“I don’t know, Eddy. We might need to ask Kevin and Nazz for a second opinion on your brother. They seem to have met his acquaintance before his stellar career as a carnival worker.”

“That’s a great idea,” Eddy replied enthusiastically, getting up from his bed, “we’ll ask ol’ Shovel Chin what my brother was like before he moved away and find out how to get on my Bro’s good side. My folks are going to get the first load while we wait.” 

Eddy pointed out the window towards his parents getting into a rental truck. “Mom told me last night when you were too busy scrubbing the hell out of our bathroom. She and Dad are going to drive the moving truck to my brother’s house and pack up his heavy shit. My bro’s driving his car here with his smaller stuff. That gives us just enough time to talk to Kevin and get Lumpy to help us.”

Eddy began to undress. Even though Edd had seen his friend naked many times since they were toddlers, he tried to avert his gaze away from his friend’s bare body. Puberty was a strange thing. Even before puberty, the sight of nude bodies made him extremely uncomfortable. The sight of naked bodies still made him uncomfortable. However, the sight of Eddy’s nude body was enough to make his heart flutter and his palms sweat. He stared at the disco ball to distract him from the fact that his friend was in his birthday suit. 

“Hey Sockhead.” When Edd turned towards the sound of Eddy’s voice, his friend was already dressed, “you alright?”

“Yes Eddy. I’m alright.” He straightened, trying to give Eddy the false impression that he was nonchalant. 

“Eh, whatever,” Eddy shrugged. “C’mon, Double D.”

Edd followed Eddy out of the house. Over the fence of Eddy’s yard, they found Kevin working on his motorcycle. Some things in Rethink Avenue have a tendency of remaining consistent. Kevin’s love for bikes was one of them. Kevin wiped the sweat from his brow and peered over the fence at the two teens that were watching him. “What do you two dorks want?”

“Hey Kev,” Eddy greeted, chuckling nervously, “I’ve got a question to ask you.”

“If you want to ride my bike, you already know the question to that.” All three of them knew that Kevin barely let anyone touch his bikes.

“Pardon me, Kevin,” Edd waved at their ginger-haired neighbor, “Eddy is desperately reconsidering trying to reconnect with his brutish brother. You see, Eddy’s brother is moving back in with his parents and Eddy is hoping that his brother is more sympathetic towards him since he’s not a child.”

“Eddy’s brother is moving back here?” Kevin’s eyes widened and his skin became several shades paler. He looked between Edd and Eddy to see if either of them was trying to trick him. Once he seen that they both were serious, he grimaced. “I’m warning you right now, Dorky. If that psycho lays one hand on Nazz, I’ll put that son of a bitch in the hospital.”

“Okay Kevin,” Eddy rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “So what do you know about my brother?”

“Not much, man.” Kevin replied, “My cousin Sasha went out with him for a short while, but shit didn’t work out. Other than that, other teens were scared of him. Even the ones that he went out with were scared of him. If he wasn’t scaring the shit of people, he was scamming people and chasing tail.”

“Thanks Kevin,” Eddy nodded, feeling as envious of his brother’s life before Mondo-A Go Go just as he did when he considered his brother his hero.

“Don’t mention it,” Kevin put his bike helmet on and swung his leg over the bike. He revved up the engine. The engine of his motorcycle purred and he gave them a lazy wave. “Good luck dorks! Catch ya later!”

“Well, that went well,” Edd smiled awkwardly as he watched Kevin ride off. 

“If you say so,” Eddy muttered as he started to walk towards Ed’s house. 

“Eddy, I thought we were going to take the van,” Edd ran, trying to keep up with Eddy.

“To go to Ed’s house? It’s only a couple of houses away,” Eddy kept walking while Edd struggled to keep up with Eddy’s pace. 

The house Ed lived in with his parents and his sister his whole life was apple green with a rock pond in the backyard. Sarah was viewing fashion magazines with her friend Jimmy on a couple of lawn chairs. The redhead peered over the magazine to sneer at the sight of Eddy. Ever since the three Eds became more accepted by the other kids of the Cul de Sac, Sarah had treated Edd and her own brother better. However, she still despised Eddy. The feeling was mutual. “What do you want, Fathead!” Sarah screamed at Eddy.

“I’m here to get Ed,” Eddy gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to yell at Sarah, “So where is he?”

“Ed went out, you stupid fuck.” Sarah had a smug grin on her face, “he went to go see his three girlfriends and he won’t be back until after sundown.” 

“Girlfriend?” Edd asked her incredulously.

“Three of them?” Eddy asked just as shocked as the other teen was. 

“Yeah, he has three girlfriends now,” Sarah smirked, “Do you?”

“Of course I do, you twerp,” Eddy lied.

“You’re such a liar,” Sarah taunted, “I bet you’re a virgin too!”

Jimmy giggled, “Leave the virgin baby alone, Sarah. It’s not his fault girls are not attracted to cheapskates who wear cheap cologne and shampoo.” The two prepubescent children laughed coldly.

Edd choose to remain quiet. Anything that he would’ve said to Sarah would’ve put Ed or them into the danger zone. He noticed that Eddy was trying to keep his cool as well. He had gotten better at his temper since he was 12, but he still blew up on Sarah on occasions. Eddy snorted and turned around to head back to his house with Edd trailing behind him. “That fucking spoiled bitch!” Eddy muttered. “Her and her little ass-kisser boyfriend get on my last fucking nerve!”

A decrepit Camaro was parked outside of Eddy’s house next to Eddy’s purple van. “Oh no,” Edd thought, “Hopefully that’s not his car!” Sure enough, a figure came out of the car a second later. A grin revealing a gold tooth greeted them. The person still wore the same red plaid shirt, brown cap, and gray jeans that he had seen the man in when Edd had first him. The only thing that had changed was that the person didn’t have their sunglasses and his bright yellow jersey. Instead, the man wore a plain black sleeveless shirt. The man also had a beer in his hand. The devil had come to the Cul-de-Sac.


	2. Almost Men

Edd and Eddy walked hesitantly towards the driveway, neither one of them saying a word. Eddy’s brother watched them in amusement. Edd felt like a gazelle looking at an Arabian wolf. Eddy’s brother smiled a terrifying smile that reminded him of the way the Grinch grinned. Even though Edd was almost a man, Eddy’s brother still terrified him. 

“Hiya bro!” Eddy faked a grin as he spoke to his brother. Edd knew that Eddy was still terrified of his own brother, but tried so hard to hide the fact. What a paradox it was. Eddy loved his own brother, but was terrified of his brother’s wrath.

“Hey Pipsqueak,” Matthew greeted, “are you and your girlfriend just going to stand there or are you going to help me move my shit in?” Edd was miffed by the girlfriend comment. Did he really look like a girl to the man? 

“In a minute,” Eddy replied and walked towards him, “so what happened for you to be moving back here?”

“I got fired from Mondo A-Go Go,” Matthew replied bitterly, “Some bitch turned me in for beating up her kid. It’s not my fault she raised her kid to be such a whiny snot-nosed prick. My days of making cotton candy for ankle-biters are over!”

“Charming,” Edd muttered sarcastically. There is nothing more horrid to Edd than a man who thinks nothing of beating a child at a carnival. The shocking thing was that Matthew worked at that carnival for so many years without getting fired, possibly turning other kids into his own personal punching bags while on the job. 

“So the sockhead princess finally speaks,” Matthew grinned at Edd. “Why don’t you come closer and be more social. I don’t bite unless you want me to.”

“Ha ha,” Edd rolled his eyes, moving closer to Matthew and Eddy.

“So, bro,” Eddy continued the previous conversation, “what are you planning on doing next?”

“Well, I’m either planning on becoming a street pharmacist or something like that. I haven’t thought too far ahead.”

“I’m sure whatever you pick would be wonderful career for a law abiding citizen such as yourself,” It seemed that sarcasm was quickly becoming a third language to Edd whenever Eddy’s brother opened his mouth.

Matthew just laughed, “I can see why you’re still with him, Pipsqueak. Your girlfriend still has spunk after all of these years. So, have you fucked him yet?”

Edd turned bright pink and Eddy’s jaw dropped at his brother’s inappropriate question. “Very funny, Bro. Double D’s my best friend. We’re not like that.”

Eddy’s brother chuckled, “Sure you’re not. I’m sure that putting on mom’s clothes and high heels was also just for fun, right?”

“I only did that a couple of scams. It’s not like I enjoy wearing women’s clothing!” Eddy’s face was turning the same color as his brother’s plaid shirt. It seemed that Eddy’s brother still got a sadistic thrill out of humiliating Eddy. If Edd didn’t do anything, there probably would’ve been a fight on Eddy’s front lawn between two brothers. The lanky teen was surprised by Eddy’s amount of self control so far. Eddy had always been short-fused and blew up whenever things didn’t go according to what he had planned. It must have taken a certain amount of self restraint for Eddy not to blow up from having his sexual prowess, or lack thereof, questioned by Sarah and Jimmy and his masculinity challenged by his own brother. 

Edd stepped between the brothers before things got a chance to escalate, “hey Eddy, let’s start moving your brother’s stuff in.”

“Okay Double D,” Eddy agreed, his face slowly turning back to his normal shade, “let’s get cracking.”

Before either one of them could open one of the car doors, Matthew loudly cleared his throat to get their attention. “Wait just a second, Pipsqueak. I don’t want my shit getting broke and Sockhead Princess here looks like he can barely lift up a teddy bear. Why don’t you get the stuff and I’ll find a couple of things to keep your girlfriend busy with.”

“Okay,” Eddy replied, starting to get an armful of his brother’s clothes. Edd had never seen Eddy so subservient to anybody before. 

Edd frowned, “I’ll have you know that I carry a box quite adequately.”

“You look like the type of guy that is very neat and clean,” The older man commented, completely ignoring Edd’s insistence that he was not as weak as the man claimed.

“Why, yes. I do pride myself at cleanliness.” One of the things Edd could keep humble about was his preference for keeping everything neat. In fact, the mere sight of filth or dirt was enough to drive him insane.

“Good,” Matthew flopped down on the armchair and finished off his beer, “you can fix me lunch and none of that rabbit food either. When you’re done with that, I got another thing for you to do.”

“And if I refuse?” Edd crossed his arms defiantly. He was not sure if he had a death wish, but he was not going to let Matthew treat Eddy and him like slaves. He gulped loudly when the man yanked him by the wrists.

Their noses almost touched. The nauseating scent of beer, cologne, and cigarettes filled Edd’s nose. His slim wrists started to hurt in the man’s grip. “Listen, Sockhead,” Matthew hissed as Edd’s legs started to shake, “if you don’t follow my orders, I’ll have you do something far worse.”

Edd shuddered and pulled himself away from the man, “does hamburger and fries seem alright to you?” He did not know what Matthew meant by him doing something far worse than what he was already doing, but he was content at never finding out. 

“That sounds perfect,” Matthew grinned, satisfied with Edd’s compliance, “No cheese though, I’m lactose intolerant. Also, I like my burger burnt.” Edd nodded quietly and headed into the kitchen to feed the new discourteous house member.

Eddy came back in carrying a large cardboard box. “Jesus, what the fuck do you have inside of this? It weighs a ton!” Eddy asked, leaning against the wall to rest for a bit.

“Your girlfriend’s dildo,” The man replied, “if you even dare to look inside that box, I’ll cut your hand off. Capisce?”

“Yeah, I heard ya.” Eddy mumbled, carrying the box into his brother’s room. 

Edd adjusted the fire on the stove, careful not to burn the pan. He also got the fryer going and waited for it to warm up. While he cooked the fries and hamburger, Eddy continued to carry stuff in. Eddy politely declined Edd’s offer to cook him lunch. At least one of the brothers was considerate of others. Well, Eddy was considerate of him and Ed when he was not trying to scam the neighborhood. He cherished his friendship with Ed and Eddy. The two were always there for him when he first moved to Peach Creek. He did not dare to ruin his friendship with Eddy over his own traitorous hormones. So he kept his crush on his best friend a secret from him.

Eddy already disappeared to his room when Edd finally got Matthew’s food cooked. Edd put only ketchup on Eddy’s brother’s hamburger and didn’t put anything on the fries. He carried the food to the man on a Styrofoam plate. 

“Well, what do you know,” Matthew took the plate from Edd, “Pipsqueak’s girlfriend knows his way around the kitchen too.

“It’s just a hamburger and fries,” Edd shrugged, gritting his teeth at the `girlfriend’ comment. 

“Well, most of guys I knew at Mondo A-Go Go who didn’t work at the food stands fixed themselves Hot Pockets and Ramen noodles every day,” Matthew took a bite out of one of the fries. “Your food even tastes as good as it smells. Your next task is just to sit next to me. I was going to have you clean my shoes while I ate, but I decided to have you sit with me since you did a great job at cooking.” He scooted over and patted the spot next to him. Edd hesitantly sat next to the man on the armchair. The armchair in Eddy’s sitting room, if one could even call it that, was large enough to fit two people comfortably. To Edd’s discomfort, the man also put his arm around his shoulders. He clenched his jaw to prevent himself from telling the man to give him back his personal space.

“Why thank you,” He figured that trying to have a civilized conversation with Matthew couldn’t hurt, “so how old are you?”

“I’m 24 years old,” The man replied. That meant that Matthew was 20 years old when Edd had first met him. “I suppose you’re the same age as Pipsqueak.” 

“Eddy and I are the same age with a few months difference between us. How long did you work at Mondo A-Go Go?” 

“I worked there for five miserable years,” Matthew said sourly, “I can’t stand kids and I only took the job to get away from Dad.” 

Edd made a mental note to ask Eddy for more details on the estrangement between Matthew and his father later. “Maybe you can get a job at your father’s used automobile business.”

“Hell no.” Matthew frowned. 

“Eddy’s been working there on weekends for a month now and he seems to enjoy working there,” Edd smiled proudly at Eddy’s ability to earn money legitimately without resorting to scams. “He enjoys the money that he earns every mouth.”

“What? Oh fuck no!” Matthew then yelled out towards the direction of Eddy’s room, “Pipsqueak! Get your ass in here!” 

Eddy quickly scurried into the living room, not having time to react to the sight of his own brother putting his arm around one of his best friends, “what’s wrong, bro?”

“Everything is wrong, Eddy Skipper McGee,” Eddy flinched at his brother using his full name; “you and your girlfriend here are fucking goody two-shoes. You two might as well join those Urban Ranger ankle-biting faggots. I thought I taught you better than this. You’re working with dad? That self-centered son-of-a-bitch?!?” Matthew shoved his plate onto the walnut side table. He quickly reached over Edd and grabbed the cigarettes on the table that most likely belonged to Eddy’s parents. 

Edd and Eddy stared at the man, shell-shocked. Guilt overwhelmed his thoughts. He had unwilling thrown Eddy to the Big Bad Wolf without meaning to. Edd might have been an only child, but he knew that most brothers would’ve been proud of the fact that their sibling had become part of the workforce, but not Eddy’s brother. After lighting up the cigarette and inhaling the thick smoke, the man seemed to relax. Edd tried to get up, but the man still had a tight grip on his shoulder. “Alright, I’m calm. I’m calm. I’ve been away for a while and shit. Don’t worry, Pipsqueak. Your big bro is here now and I’ll get you on the right track that definitely does not involve working for that old douche.”

“Oh Matthew, how are you going us both on the track you are certain is the right path for Eddy and me?” Edd asked quietly, not wanting to anger Matthew.

“I’m glad you asked that, Sockhead. You two have been sheltered away from experiencing the freedom adults can enjoy. You know what I’m talking about. Shit like getting tattoos and sneaking into bars. I was doing that shit at your age and it was some of the best times I’ve had as a teen.”

“I’m game for that,” Eddy declared, enthusiastically. He was always eager to have the same freedom as an adult. Edd decided that he would talk to Eddy later when his brother was out of earshot about the possible consequences that could come out of what his brother was suggesting. He already had a headache thinking about the endless consequences that would result from going to adult venues and partaking in same vices as adults do. Even though he would be eighteen in two years and was almost a man, he was unsure if he or Eddy was ready for that type of freedom.


	3. Dinner with a Bro

Eddy’s parents arrived back with the rest of Matthew’s stuff. He was given the task of wiping everything down while Eddy had to lift parts of a waterbed and help his dad lift a dresser and various other items into his brother’s room. Eddy laid down on his own bed from the exhaustion from having to move his brother back in, “I was thinking, Double D.”

“Yes, Eddy?” Edd sat in the white and purple ball chair across from Eddy’s bed. Once Eddy had a pink polka-dotted chair where the ball chair was, but Ed broke the chair by accident two years previously. Eddy blew his top at Ed over it and Ed frantically trying to beg Eddy for mercy. Eddy calmed down after a few minutes when he seen Ed crying that Eddy’s “dark side” scared him. Edd had to admit, the ball chair does fit the retro theme of Eddy’s room. 

“I was thinking that we could get some extra cash selling booze to the other kids in the neighborhood,” Eddy was already formulating how he would be able to pull off the sales without getting caught. 

“Eddy, reselling alcohol to other minors is illegal and would tarnish our good reputation.” Edd walked over to his friend and laid next to him, taking his hand between both of his to plead with stockier teen, “please reconsider your brother’s proposition, Eddy. You have your whole future ahead of you. You’re going to be a great business major, Eddy.”

“Gee, thanks mom.” Eddy rolled his eyes, “there’s still nothing you can do to change my mind though. So, quit being a killjoy already. I’ve got plenty of places to do and see before we graduate. It’s not like I’m forcing you to come along with me.”

“No, but your brother is,” Edd sighed, “even if he wasn’t, I couldn’t just leave you alone while you willingly throw yourself into the lion den.” 

Eddy had no idea how to respond to that. He and Edd were called to the dinner table. His friend’s words repeated over and over again in his head while he walked wordlessly to the kitchen table. Edd would stick by his side even if he believed what Eddy did was foolish? `Why would Sockhead do that? Why does Ed do it? Why have they been by my side for so long? What’s in it for them?’ Eddy’s thoughts were interrupted by his mother’s command for him to sit at the table. Edd sat next to him and Matthew sat at the other end of Edd away from his parents. The savory smell of his mother’s homemade calzone tempted Eddy’s nose and he took a bite of the meal. 

He looked around his family members and Edd. Edd was quietly taking small bites of calzone into his mouth and chewing them slowly. His dad was eating quickly, shooting glares at his brother. Eddy turned to his brother, surprised that the man was not eating. Instead the man was also shooting the patriarch of the house dirty looks and turning towards Edd and giving the teen a look that Eddy couldn’t read. Was his own brother planning on scamming his best friend? Eddy’s mother was in the same position as Eddy was; looking between his father and his brother and hoping that the two didn’t start an argument. 

“Shouldn’t Sockhead be eating with his folks?” Matthew questioned Eddy and their mother.

“Who’s Sock- oh!” Eddy’s mother put down the fork for a bit and wiped her mouth with a napkin, “Eddward’s parents went missing six months ago and he’s been staying with us until his parents are found.”

“Whose room has Eddy’s little girlfriend been sleeping in?” Eddy’s groaned at the “girlfriend” comment and Eddy’s father didn’t look very pleased. 

“He’s been sleeping in Eddy’s room on his bed,” Mrs. McGee answered.

Eddy’s brother burst out laughing, causing the rest of the table just to stare at him “is that so? Well -”

“If you’re going to turn this conversation into an inappropriate one, you can just take your plate and leave to your room!” Eddy’s father barked, a vein bulging out of his forehead. 

“You want an appropriate conversation, old man?” Matthew snarled, “okay, you old fuck, you’re about to get one. I didn’t tell ya this, but tonight seems like a good night to break the news to you. You’re a piece of shit dad!”

“What did you call me?!?” Eddy’s father yelled.

Eddy’s mother had quickly shooed Edd and Eddy out of the kitchen with their plates and instructed them to eat in Eddy’s room. She didn’t want them in the middle of an argument between Matthew and his own father. Eddy led Edd into a spacious broom closet when his mother wasn’t looking and watched the scene with concern. 

Matthew grinned cruelly, “You need your ears cleaned out, you old prick? You’re a piece of shit dad! There! Let’s talk about that for a few minutes. Let’s talk about how you kicked me out of the house when I was Pipsqueak’s age. That would be a great place to talk about what kind of parent you actually are!”

Eddy’s father grabbed Matthew by the front of his shirt, about to push him into the wall when Eddy’s mother stepped between them, “Matthew! Honey! Stop it!” She turned to her husband. “Please, dear! Your health isn’t what it used to be. We both agreed that Matthew should stay here until he gets a place of his own. Please just try to be civil with him.”

“No Margaret! You agreed to have him stay in our house,” Eddy’s father started stomping away from the kitchen, “I’ll be eating in our bedroom if you need me.”

“You go do that,” Matthew snapped. He noticed his mother shakily reaching into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a cigarette. Matthew took a lighter out from his gray jeans and lit the cigarette for his mom, “take it easy tonight, Mom.” He patted his mom on the shoulder before going into his own room. Edd and Eddy crept into his room without being noticed.

The next few hours went by quickly. Neither of the teens spoke about the hostility between Eddy’s father and his brother. Eddy sat on his bed reading his “Jiggy Uncensored” magazine while Edd read an encyclopedia on diseases. Edd excused himself from the room for a bit, not mentioning much else about where he was planning on going.

Edd gently rapped at the wooden door of his destination. Loud rock music had played from behind the door. The room was in the upper level of the house as it always had been. A gruff voice answered from behind the door, “Come In.” The music was shut off a second before Edd opened the door. The room had looked a bit different from when he last viewed it back when he was just twelve. The walls of the room were the same color with light gray carpeting and a black throw rug in the middle of the room. The room still had the odd decorations such as the large stuffed camel, the harp, and the robotic arms on the wall. 

However the room did contain some changes. In spot where the car that Ed, Eddy and him destroyed when they were only twelve years old used to be was a large king-sized waterbed with plain black blankets. A stereo system and the large box Eddy was threatened over stood in front of the bricked off window. A nightstand with a red lava lamp stood in place of the bed that folded up into a refrigerator. Other than that, the room was just about the same as he remembered it.

The owner of the room laid on the waterbed in just his boxers. Edd pulled his sockhat over his face, a deep red blush formed on his cheeks. “Please make yourself decent! I have something imperative that I need to talk to you about.”

“My room, my rules, girlfriend!” Matthew leaned back against the metal headboard of the bed, smirking.

“Ugh!” Edd pulled his sockhat away from his eyes and tried to only focus on the man from the neck up. “L-look here! Eddy has a promising future ahead of him. He doesn’t need any immoral distractions to get in the way of that. Please, let Eddy become an adult first before you have that type of brotherly bonding.”

“Too bad, Sockhead Princess,” Matthew smirked, “I’m not changing my plans for showing you and Eddy around the fun parts of this dump of a town. Though, I have a couple of questions to ask you since you like to stick your nose into my business.”

“I was not prying into your personal affairs,” Edd huffed, “what do you want to question me about?”

“Well, the first thing I want to know about is whose kid you are. You can’t be this much of a pain in the ass without learning it from some bitch. So which one of these cul-de-sac housewives is your bitch mom? I doubt that one of the trailer trash cunts from Park n’ Flush is your mom.”

Edd folded his arms, “my sweet, adoring parents are Sam and Marian!”

“Marian, huh?” Eddy’s brother rubbed his goatee, trying to place the name with a face, “oh yeah, I remember that dark-haired, stuck up bitch. Mrs. Doctor Bitch thought she could bitch at me for smoking whenever she came to my house for coffee. I let it slide though. She was one of the women I peeked in on when I was twelve. I peeked in on her changing quite a few times until her douche husband caught me outside of their bedroom window. I also peeked in on this Aurora cunt a couple of times too. This was before I started sneaking porn into my room.” Eddy’s brother smirked at the teen again, “in fact, you do look a lot like your mom!”

“You invaded the privacy of my mother and Ed’s mother?” Edd asked, aghast. The only Aurora in the entire cul-de-sac was Ed’s mom. “You’re appalling! You’re an absolute lecher! My mother is not some object for you to gawk at!”

“I can look at whatever bitch I want to look at,” Matthew replied. Edd could only purse his lips tightly to prevent himself from saying anything else to the man. “I got another question for you, Sockhead. What’s under your hat?”

“It’s none of your – desist!” Edd felt a hand try to reach for his hat but quickly dodged it. He tried to run towards the door, but Matthew gripped his bony wrists to prevent him from getting very far. He was pushed to the floor and was pinned down. He tried to fight against Matthew, but the feeling of breeze upon his head stopped him dead in his tracks. The bobbing pins that held his hair into place fell to the ground. Matthew had gotten Edd’s hat off without very much effort. 

“So that’s what you keep under there,” Matthew traced the scar tissue on the right side of Edd’s head. The two inch long scar tissue had left a bald patch on the side of the teen’s head that was never able to grow back. He felt like a specimen that was getting prodded and gawked at. Matthew wouldn’t stop staring at him. Edd couldn’t stand to be stared at like that. That was the main reason why he wore the sockhat in the first place. Once Matthew released him from his hold, the embarrassed teen bolted out of the room, not caring if he left his hat in that man’s room. 

Once he got back into Eddy’s room, the other teen was already in bed asleep. Edd grabbed another sockhat that was in his clothes and pulled his protective barrier against hurtful stares over his head. He changed into a pair of pajama pants and a loose t-shirt and slipped under the covers next to Eddy. He watched Eddy sleeping peacefully next to him. He could tell that Eddy was in the midst of REM sleep. He resisted the urge to take Eddy’s hand into his hand as he resisted the urge every night when he shared Eddy’s bed. The only difference being that night, the urge was stronger from everything that happened that day. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and fell asleep a minute later.


	4. Pandora’s Box

The following day went better than Edd had hoped. Matthew had left around 9 am that morning and told his parents that he would be at the bar. If Edd’s own calculations were correct, Matthew would be back between 5 pm and 1 am, depending on what type of alcohol he consumed and how much alcohol the man consumed at the bar. Eddy’s parents had to travel out of state due to an emergency. The couple was pretty vague over what the emergency was about, other than the fact that they received a phone call at four in the morning. Edd found it odd that the couple had to leave on such short notice, but he was used to something like that from his own parents. 

Eddy and Edd had the day to themselves. Being the Marlon Brando fan that he is, Eddy decided that watching the Godfather would be a great way to pass the time. While Edd found the movie to be a high quality masterpiece, he could’ve done without seeing the scene with the decapitated bloody horse head in the bed. Eddy also did a pretty spot-on Marlon Brando impersonation during certain scenes in the movie. 

After the movie was over, Edd and Eddy went to look for Ed. Once again, it was the same story. Ed went over to his girlfriends’ house and would not be back until sunset. As expected, Eddy yelled out his frustration over Ed “choosing pussy” over them and went on a tirade over the situation. Eddy’s voice was loud enough to damage someone’s eardrum or possibly even enough to shatter a window. Then again, that was nothing new. Eddy’s voice had been deafening ever since Edd first met him. Edd tried to placate Eddy before one of their neighbors turned in another noise compliant on Eddy. 

That was something that had happened before. Of course, being the hothead that he is, Eddy exacerbated the situation by yelling even louder at the various houses on the block, in front of the police officer that was questioning him nonetheless, “Oh, I’m being too loud for this cul-de-sac of suckers, huh? How’s this for loud!” Eddy spent a day at the Peach Creek juvenile detention center for disturbing the peace.

The rest of the evening was spent eating dinner and watching reruns of Tales of the Crypt on one of the TV channels. The show was one of Ed’s favorites. Eddy hated to admit it, but things were kind of dull without Ed around to destroy something or to talk his ear off about some nonsensical B-rated horror flick. 

At the end of the day, the two both took their showers and fell asleep. Edd was awoken to the sound of tires screeching near the house. Edd dismissed the sound to drag racers, which was a common occurrence in the cul-de-sac during the spring and summer seasons. He dosed off and was awoken the second time that night to the weight of someone’s arm pressed against the middle of his spine and to Eddy screaming, “Hey Monobrow, go sleep on the couch!”

One whiff of the person that was squishing them revealed that the person was not Ed. The person wore cologne and reeked of alcohol. “Ed-Eddy, that’s not Ed.” Edd quickly got rolled off of the bed. Eddy rolled over onto the floor a second later. The room was too dark to make out the person’s facial features. Edd picked up Jim and defensively pointed it at the sleeping person. Eddy went towards his pole lamp and pulled on the switch. The sudden light in the room blinded the two for a second, but they were able to see who the intruder was. “It was just my brother!” 

Edd sat down his cactus and sighed a breath of relief, “well, that’s a relief! I was almost certain that an intruder had broken into your home and was planning on bidding and gagging us.”

“I’m going to bid and gag you if you don’t shut up for five seconds!” Eddy replied, sourly, “Matthew rode here drunk and that would mean – the van!” Eddy ran outside to check on his van. Edd ran behind Eddy to assess the damage that Matthew might have caused during his drive home. The purple van that was out front was untouched much to Eddy’s relief. However, the lawn and back fence was completely destroyed. 

“It appears that while your brother was driving home intoxicated, he driven through the Lane haphazardly until he reached his destination.” Edd was examining the scene. 

“Hey Einstein, I can tell that just from looking at my backyard!” Eddy examined his backyard, already thinking about how much hell his parents were going to raise over it. “It’s a wonder how he wasn’t pulled over by the cops. Thank god the van was parked out front.”

“Eddy, we may need to rest inside the van tonight,” Edd yawned, “your brother is most likely going to remain in a drunken stupor for the rest of the evening.”

“Like hell we are!” Eddy retorted.

“Eddy, where are we supposed to sleep?” 

“That’s simple; we’ll just sleep in my brother’s bed.” Eddy led Double D back into his room. Eddy grabbed the half gallon bottle of vodka that was in his brother’s hand. “-And this would cover the amount of work us two would have to put in the yard before my parents get home.”

“That’s actually pretty reasonable of you. May I do you the honors of dumping that poison down the sink where it belongs?”

Any hope that Edd had of Eddy being the more responsible sibling was quickly dashed, “Are you nuts? We’re going to split this bad boy!” Eddy lifted up the bottle, to show Edd how much alcohol still was in the bottle. Eddy’s brother had already drunk half of the bottle.

“Eddy! I doubt either one of us are capable of meeting even a tenth of your brother’s alcohol tolerance. Even so, it’s against the law for us to drink before our 21st birthday!” Edd tried to explain.

“So?” Eddy led Edd to his brother’s room, “we’ll both be fine! I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Besides, our parents have been drinking this stuff on New Year’s Eve for years. C’mon, Double D! It wouldn’t be fun if I drank this stuff alone.”

“Resorting to peer pressure, Eddy?” Edd asked with a bit of humor in his voice. Double D stepped into Matthew’s room with Eddy following close behind him. Edd sat on the waterbed and watched Eddy sit the vodka bottle down on the nightstand.

“Did I convince you to drink with me yet?” Eddy asked, flashing a cocksure smirk. 

“I suppose you did,” Edd admitted in defeat. Edd could not shake the feeling that he had lost something else in the room the night before besides his hat, but he could not place his finger on what it was that he lost. 

Eddy searched the room, “my bro’s shot glasses have to be around here somewhere.” Eddy searched around the room and started to search the box that his brother threatened him over. Edd glanced around for a different item; his hat. He saw no trace of the hat that Eddy’s brother stole from him.

“Eddy, Matthew threatened you over that box,” Edd warned.

“He won’t find out,” Eddy began to open the box. Edd imagined that this was how the legend of Pandora’s jar played out. Pandora looked at the jar with extreme fascination, hardly concealing her inquisitiveness while whoever was there to witness the event watched in trepidation of what might happen after the jar was opened. He tried to once again to tell Eddy that opening the box would be a bad idea, but the larger teen brushed him off. 

He had a strange feeling that whatever was in that box would have some kind of consequences. Eddy’s brother wanted to keep whatever contents in the box a secret from them and anyone else. Edd’s mind started racing at the thought of what Matthew could be trying to hide. Could that box contain drugs that Matthew briefly mentioned that he was thinking about selling? More macabre thoughts filled his imagination of Eddy’s brother killing a kid at Mondo A-Go Go and stuffing their body into the box. `Oh, you should be ashamed of yourself! That’s completely irrational, Eddward!’ He chastised himself.

Edd stopped Eddy from opening the box again by telling him what happened the night before. He spared Eddy no detail of Matthew telling him about his voyeuristic habits toward Ed’s mother and his mother and about the man pinning him down and stealing his hat. Eddy only nodded as he took the information in. “He’s probably just pulling your leg,” Eddy dismissed what Edd told him and opened the box while Edd yanked down the sides of his hat, a nervous habit he had since he was a small child. “Jackpot!” Eddy yelled enthusiastically. 

Inside of the box were pornographic magazines and movies. Eddy began taking out the magazines. Edd pulled a pair of rubber gloves out and dug through the contents of the box. There were plenty of items that Edd didn’t want to think about what their exact purpose was. His eyes fell upon a set of shot glasses, “I found those glasses you were looking for.” Eddy was engrossed in one of the “Tattooed Babes” magazines. Edd dug a bit and pulled out three hospital certificates that look like copies of birth certificates. He dug through the rest of the box, not finding much else of interest to him. 

Edd opened one of the birth certificates. “E-Eddy! Come look at this.” 

Eddy put down the magazine he was reading and crouched down near Edd. “What’cha got there?”

Edd smiled at Eddy warmly and showed him, “you’re an uncle, Eddy!” Edd gave him the birth certificate and read the next one. Eddy looked over the birth certificate of `Bonnie Michelle McGee.’ Eddy started to tear up. The thought of being an uncle and teaching his best tricks to scam anyone out of their money to the little girl that would be five years old filled him with overwhelming emotion. He didn’t even know the little girl yet but he already wanted to get to know her more. 

“Are you crying, Eddy?” Edd asked, peering over the birth certificate at him.

“No, Sockhat!” Eddy lied, “I just have something in my eye.” Eddy rubbed his eyes and read more of the birth certificate. The mother of Bonnie was five years younger than Matthew. Edd handed Eddy the birth certificate of `Danielle Antoinette McGee.’ Danielle was also five years old. Danielle was another case of Matthew knocking up someone that he possibly was not married to, except the mother in this case was 10 years older than Matthew was. The last birth certificate was for an ‘Edna Rachael McGee.’ “Another Ed,” Eddy mused. Unlike the previous two, Edna’s mother was almost the same age as Matthew and the little girl was only three years old. 

“Congratulations Eddy!” Edd patted Eddy’s shoulder, “I’m sure you’re going to be a great uncle to these young girls.”  
“Yeah, I am about to. Aren’t I?” Eddy tried to keep himself from tearing up again. He was hoping that his brother wouldn’t be a dick and actually arrange for the girls to meet the family. However, Eddy couldn’t easily see that happening. “I think this is worth a celebration, don’t you?”

“Sure, Uncle Eddy!” Edd snickered, getting a wet rag from the kitchen to wipe the shot glasses with. Once the shot glasses were wiped down, Edd poured vodka for him and Eddy, knowing that he would regret this night in the morning. Eddy was still snooping through his brother’s magazines, abandoning the `Tattoo Babes’ magazine in the pile. 

“What is this?” Edd leaned over Eddy and seen what appeared to be a picture of two men engaged in a sexual act on the magazine.

“It’s called a homosexual pornographic magazine, Eddy.” Edd replied, sarcastically.

“I knew that, smartass!” Eddy snapped, “What’s a whole stack of them doing in my brother’s stuff? He’s not gay.”

“Eddy, denial is usually the first step to acceptance,” Edd explained, “people view pornography of what tantalizes their sexual arousal. I doubt your brother would have that many gay magazines for the sake of sophomoric humor. I know it may be hard to accept that a member of your family is gay or in Matthew’s case, bisexual, but-”

“I don’t have a problem with gay people,” Eddy replied, “it’s just that my brother would’ve told me if he was.”

“There are a lot of things that your brother has kept you in the dark about.”

“Tch, whatever,” Eddy brushed the magazines off of the bed, “are we going to start drinking or what? I don’t wanna wait until I’m a hundred to have my first drink.”

“Patience, Eddy.” Edd handled Eddy a shot glass and held his own. Both shot glasses contained a hologram of a laughing skull. 

“A fitting touch to disregarding my own good health, I suppose.” Edd observed Eddy greedily swallowed the clear liquid with great difficulty. Edd followed suit and poured the vodka into his own mouth. The strong taste of alcohol overwhelmed his taste buds and burned his throat as Edd swallowed the bitter liquid down. If Edd had to imagine what poison probably tasted like, he would imagine that it would’ve tasted like the bitter liquid he just consumed. “That tasted awful!”

“No kidding,” Eddy replied, “I’m starting to feel it though.”

“I’m starting to feel the side effects from the alcohol as well,” Edd admitted. The books he read on the subject of alcohol all point to the social effects of alcohol which is the main reason for drug’s popularity. Edd started to feel more relaxed and social. 

After a few more shots, Edd felt his inhibitions started to lower. The room felt too hot for the skinnier teen, so he removed his own shirt without the least bit of modesty, something that he would not have done sober. Eddy also sung a drunken impromptu version of Iron Butterfly’s `In a Gadda Da Vida.’ That song was one of the few songs someone can sing completely drunk and still sound like they’re singing the song correctly.

Eddy and Edd spent almost an hour, chatting like they haven’t seen each other for years. The teens didn’t care if they would remember the conversations when the morning came. They dissolved into laughter, took more shots of alcohol, and even busted out some random dance moves – which ended in them slipping on some magazines and falling. They laughed as both of them failed to even lift themselves up off the ground without falling. This must be what Ed feels like on a daily basis. 

Edd found him leaning over Eddy as another attempt to stand up had failed. Edd’s hormones and intoxicated state took over any rational thought that kissing his best friend while he was drunk would a bad idea. He brushed his lips against Eddy’s chapped ones. His heart fluttered at the contact with the other teen. Kissing him felt so wrong, but felt so right at the same time. The other teen didn’t protest against the action and rested his hand against Edd’s cheek.

After a minute, Edd withdrew his lips from Eddy’s. “We probably should try to get up and try to get some sleep where it’s more comfortable.” Eddy nodded. They were finally able get themselves up off of the floor. Eddy wrapped his arm around his friend’s waist, walking the other towards the bed. Once they both got to the bed, they flopped down on the mattress drunkenly and passed out. 

A/N: If you look closely enough at the names of Eddy’s three nieces, you’ll realize that the names of the girls (except for Edna’s first name) come from the names of the staff members of the show. Also, the idea that Eddy would be a proud, doting uncle comes from the `Ed in a Halfshell’ episode.


	5. Of Friends and Secrets

To say that Edd woke up feeling like shit would be putting it mildly. His head was pounding and all he wanted to do was stay in bed all day. The smell of alcohol and sweat clung to his body. “I’m never drinking that foul beverage again!” Edd whined as he pulled the pillow over his head. Memories of the night before slowly came back to him. Memories of how much damage Eddy’s brother had done to the backyard, the drunken man stealing Eddy’s bed, the things they found out about Eddy’s brother, and Edd kissing Eddy before they had passed out. 

Edd groaned quietly to himself. `I’m such a nincompoop for agreeing to drink with Eddy! He may not have anything against homosexuals, but I took advantage of him when we were both intoxicated. What’s he going to think of me now? That I’m some kind of twisted pervert?’ Edd brushed his fingertips against his own lips, remembering how Eddy’s lips against his own. His blush was a deep crimson red. He slowly started to get up, hoping to avoid Eddy for at least a couple of hours before they had to fix up the yard. 

A cough broke Edd out of his train of thought. He looked across the room at the source of the noise. Matthew leaned against the stuffed camel, apparently was waiting for the two to wake up. The sight of the man struck terror into the heart of the teen. The room was trashed due to Eddy carelessly throwing his brother’s stuff around. Matthew’s personal magazines and the birth certificates of his daughters were scattered at various parts of the room. Eddy had also stolen his brother’s vodka bottle while he, himself, not only encouraged Eddy to take it and dump it out, but also consumed as much of it as Eddy did. Edd hoped that he and Eddy could at least walk away from the situation with most of their teeth intact. 

“So, Girlfriend,” The man finally spoke, waltzing toward Edd, “How did you and Pipsqueak enjoy your first taste of alcohol? Don’t try to deny it.” He sat on the bed next to him. “I can smell it on both you and Pipsqueak.” 

Edd let out a yelp when Matthew sat on the bed, “it won’t happen again! I’ll make sure of it. My sentiments from the first time I met you still stand. You need to start acting like an older sibling to Eddy.”

Matthew seemed unfazed by his bluntness, “I still stand about what I said about you too. You still have spunk. Challenging me is pretty cute of you, but you probably won’t like the consequences if you do it too much. –Or maybe you might.” Matthew jabs Edd in the chest, tauntingly. “I already know a couple of your secrets already. I’m not talking about that scar on your head either!”

“Preposterous! I do not possess any secrets,” Edd lied and slapped Matthew’s hand away, “Mind my personal space, you –“

“Hey, some of us were sleeping over here!” Eddy shouted irritably. Edd could tell that Eddy was as hung over as he was. Eddy was clutching his own stomach, moaning in pain

Edd turned to his friend, smiling pleasantly, “Morning Eddy.” Edd put on the façade that nothing was wrong, but he was frightened of Eddy’s reaction to the kiss they shared last night.

“What the hell did we do last night?” Eddy asked, “I barely remember anything after I took a shot.” 

“You don’t remember anything?” Edd asked nervously. One side of him was relieved that Eddy forgotten the kiss they shared, but another part of him was disappointed that Eddy had forgotten. “Well, Eddy. I estimated that we probably consumed about one liter of vodka between us. Other than that, you crooned the lyrics to an Iron Butterfly song and we had lively conversation, but my memory is a bit hazy of what we discussed.” 

“So, in other words, last night kinda ruled!” Eddy had a satisfied look of his face. He turned and glared at his brother, “oh yeah, before I forget; Thanks for telling me that I have three nieces, dickhead!”

“Go pop a Midol, Pipsqueak! I was going to tell you and Mom until Dad started showing his ass at the dinner table,” Matthew stated. “Oh yeah, Mom called when you both were asleep. They’re heading all the way to the west coast to help the police follow on a lead about Princess’ parents.”

“My parents? My goodness! Why didn’t they say anything to me about it?” 

“They probably didn’t want to get your hopes up in the case the lead turned out to be false,” Eddy sat up, stretching out his limbs. Eddy patted Edd’s back to comfort the worried teen. “Mellow out, Sockhead. Your parents are probably fine. They have my parents and the cops searching for them, so let them do their jobs.” After a moment of uncomfortable silence, a crash came from the living room. “Who the hell is in my house?”

Eddy quickly got his answer when loud blubbering can be heard from the downstairs. “Take me alien mutants! Eddy! Double D! I’m sorry, guys! I was too busy with my girlfriends to spend time with you guys and now you’re getting your bone marrow sipped through a straw.” Ed cried choking as fat tears rolled down his face.

Edd and Eddy left the room to get Ed to stop crying, Edd putting his shirt on as they walked through the hallway. They reached the top of the stairs when Eddy yelled down towards him, “Hey Bird-brain! Up here!”

Ed turned towards the sound and his face lit up from seeing the two. The teen dashed towards his friends and crushed them in a tight hug, “I’m in my happy place, guys.”

“Ed, could you please let us go,” Edd patted Ed’s shoulder after a few minutes of receiving a bone-crushing hug from Ed, actually glad to see Ed for the first time in a couple of weeks.

“Yeah, Lumpy! I’m about to pass out from the smell of your stinky pits,” Ed let the two go with a big, goofy grin still plastered across his face. “So Casanova, how are you and your three girlfriends doing? Spill the details!”

“Ed, why don’t we have a seat in the living room and you can tell us about your courtship and romantic infatuation with these girls,” Edd lead Ed into the living room and sat him down on the couch. Edd was also guilty of wanting to find out more about these girls, but unlike Eddy, he just wanted to make sure that the girls were treating Ed well. 

“Last night my love dumplings made buttered toast covered in gravy. It was the best gravy that I ever tasted. I felt like the guy from Venusian Paradise who was trapped on another planet and fell in love with the vicious yet misunderstood alien queens,” Ed had a lost, dreamy look in his eye. The teen had fallen hard for these girls, whoever they may be.

“His girlfriends are probably three pieces of moldy cheese in his pocket named Sheila, Shelly, and Shelby! Either that or three of Rolf’s chickens,” Eddy joked.

“Says you!” Ed retorted.

“Prove it, Ed. I don’t believe for one second that you got three girls who agreed to go out with you at the same time.” Eddy folded his arms, waiting for some kind of proof of Ed’s story. He was shocked when Ed removed his dark green vest and his white and red striped tee shirt. Across his chest and shoulder were various hickey marks. Eddy was speechless for a moment, 

“Gee Ed; I wonder who these three girls are.”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Why not, Romeo?”

“It’s a secret!”

“Gentlemen, let’s find an activity to do that has a lower probability of turning into a sexually charged conversation.” Edd suggested. 

“Oh! I have a videotape in my pocket!” Ed announced, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a nondescript blank VHS tape.

“That’s a great idea, Ed,” Edd took the videotape, “what’s on this videotape, dare I ask.”

“It was that one scam where we got jawbreakers at the end.” Ed replied.

“Ed, there is only a handful of scams that were that successful, Ed.” Edd put the VHS tape in and started flipping to channel three. 

“A videotape of one of your successful scams, Pipsqueak?” Matthew sat down on couch on the other side of Eddy. 

“Of course, Bro! I made so much money from quite a few scams that I amazed even myself!” Eddy bragged confidently. 

Ed cowered in the sight of Matthew and screamed that Matthew was no good for him. Ed quickly grabbed the vacuum cleaner and pointed it in Matthew’s face, telling him to leave his friends alone. Matthew stared at the vacuum with a bored expression on his face, not even showing the slightest hint of shock or fear of the terrified teen wielding the vacuum as if it were a sword. Eddy and Edd spent over an hour trying to calm Ed down. Both of them knew that Ed still remembered what happened at Mondo A-Go Go and wanted to protect Eddy and Edd from harm.

Matthew watched as the two consoled the scared teen. It seemed that all three of them were willing to sacrifice themselves for the safety of the other two. He figured he could use that to his own advantage. Especially with the incriminating blackmail that he had on Edd, he had enough to get Edd where he wanted him at least. He just needed to get him alone in order for his plan to work.

“Are you alright now, Monobrow?” When Ed nodded, Eddy helped him up, “Good.”

Edd tossed the Kleenex that he used to wipe Ed’s eyes and nose with in the garbage. He used hand sanitizer on his hands afterward. He wasn’t taking a chance at catching a cold from Ed. Ed got up and pressed play on the VCR. Edd listened as a ten year old Eddy recited the infamous “if you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best” Marilyn Monroe quote.   
The quote somehow suited Eddy’s personality quite well. 

Edd remembered that scam all too well. Eddy had gotten the idea from eavesdropping on a conversation his parents had. The elder couple had gone on a date to a venue with a popular drag queen entertainer slash celebrity impersonator. Eddy believed that if he charged the kids of the cul-de-sac admission for a drag show, he would be swimming in money. He was half right. Eddy wanted to do a Marilyn Monroe impersonation but gotten stuck with doing `Material Girl’ by Madonna when he couldn’t find his `Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ record. While Ed and Edd wore a simple Easter tuxedo, Eddy donned a strapless pink dress that was sitting in his attic, his mother’s jewelry, red lipstick, and a blonde wig. 

The drag show scam was surprising successful. So much so, that the Eds were able to buy a week’s worth of jawbreakers. The ridicule which Eddy received, mostly from Kevin and Sarah, the day after the scam had made Eddy swear off doing anymore drag show scams in the future. Edd turned to Eddy to see that the taller teen was beet red over the video. Matthew busting his gut at the scene didn’t help relieve Eddy’s embarrassment.

“Your greatest scam, huh?” Even though the only adult in the room stopped laughing, his eyes still twinkled with cruel amusement, “it looks to me like you just wanted an excuse to wear Mom’s old clothes!”

“I don’t wear Mom’s clothes!” Eddy turned his attention back to Ed, who was putting the tape back into his vest. Eddy chased him around the living room, “just wait until I get my hands on you!”

Ed laughed as he was getting chased, “hey Eddy, why do you and Double D smell like my grandma today?”

The sight of the two had certain nostalgia to it. The scene was reminiscent of all of the times Eddy chased after Ed when some of their scams failed. Some things never change. No matter how old the Eds got or what life threw at them, their devotion would never change. After a quick shower and a fresh change of clothes, Edd looked around the house for Ed and Eddy. 

“Cheesehead and Pipsqueak are working out in the yard,” Eddy’s brother replied.

“Thank you,” The sixteen year old hoped that Ed wasn’t causing too much damage in the yard. The only things that needed to be done were to rake the tire track marks on the lawn and to fix the broken fence. “Have you seen the hammer?”

“Yeah, it’s upstairs in my room.” Matthew gestured Edd to follow him. There was a perfect opportunity for him to execute his plan. He took in every inch of the raven-haired adolescent as he walked behind him to the room. Matthew locked the door behind him as Edd searched the room for a hammer.

Edd searched the whole room for a hammer, hoping that Matthew didn’t send him on a wild goose chase like the various `treasure hunt maps’ he had given Eddy years ago. He searched the room once again, only to be pushed against the wall. “Excuse you? Why on earth did you do that?” 

The man had an unreadable expression on his face. He was always sort of an enigma to Edd. He wasn’t sure if the man was genuinely hard to read, as most sociopaths are, or if his own mind didn’t want to process the things that could be going through that man’s head. The man had trapped him against the wall. Rough hands gripped his narrow hips. He could hear his own heart pounding. Matthew leaned against him and pressed their lips together. The overpowering mixture of sweat, alcohol, and cologne made the teen dizzy. The man’s facial hair scratched the sensitive skin of his chin. 

Edd emitted a squeak of shock. He didn’t give the man any indication that he was romantically attracted to him, did he? The kiss from the man felt immoral and filthy. He had to push the man away. He just had to! He shoved the man off of him and wiped his mouth. He didn’t even want to think about what kind of microorganisms that possibly lived inside of the man’s mouth. “I apologize, Matthew, but I do not share your feelings.” 

“Is that so?” Matthew caught his breath, “saving yourself for Pipsqueak?”

“How many times do I need to inform you? Eddy and I do not have a liaison with one another. Get it through your thick skull!” Edd seethed.

Matthew grinned knowingly at him, which made Edd tremble at whatever insidious plans the 24 year old had planned for him. His stomach was already doing somersaults thinking about it. “You want it to happen though, Girlfriend.” Matthew turned to his waterbed and opened up one of the under-bed dresser drawers, reaching in to get a large metal box with a combination lock. Matthew grabbed the keychain off the dresser and unlocked the lock with one of the keys. He was too paranoid to give Edd a chance to figure out the combination to the lock.

Edd peered at the metal box. From where he was standing, the sight of his hat, a couple of large rolls of cash, and various other odd trinkets filled the box. His heart stopped when Matthew pulled out a familiar notebook. He had the feeling that Matthew had something else of his besides the hat. Due to the excitement that happened within the last couple of days, it slipped his mind that his journal was in his hat. 

“Most of the shit in here was boring science crap, but I found a couple of interesting entries,” To Edd’s horror, Matthew started reading an entry in a mock impression of him, “I’m so conflicted over my unchaste desires for Eddy. I have entertained myself with various flights of fancy of us together. This had often led to me defiling myself in masturbation sessions behind my bedroom door. It’s as if I’ve become a slave to my own libidinous desires. I’ve become a lustful animal.” Matthew closed the journal, “that was a pretty hot read, Sockhead Princess.” 

Edd was surprised that Matthew was able to read his writing without missing a beat or grabbing a dictionary. Most other people had trouble reading what they obtusely referred as “big words,” but the ex-carnival worker was able to read the passage without a problem. “My private thoughts are not for your amusement. Give me that!” Edd swiped the notebook out of Matthew’s hands. He had used the notebook as a way of writing down his confusion over certain matters whether it be life or scientific experiments which proven to be a bust.

“Take it. I have to wonder what Pipsqueak would think about his friend wanting to jump his bones.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Edd gasped, indignantly, “Something like that would ruin the bond I have with Eddy. He would never speak to me again!”

“I don’t know. Pipsqueak is my brother. As an older sibling, I have the duty to tell him. Though, I’ll keep quiet if I’m offered something in return.” His tone was quite suggestive.

“You abhorrent demon! You lecherous snake! You expect me to perform for your ephebophiliac fantasies in exchange for keeping one of the very few people I have in this world!” Edd shrieked, inches away from having a nervous breakdown. “Why can’t you get one of the mothers of your children to sleep with you again? I mean you’re probably in a committed relationship with one of them.”

“The answer should be easy for you then,” Matthew replied, “also, my kids moms are my exes. I only see them when I have to pick the ankle-biters up once in awhile since the idiot judge made me choose between that and paying child support payments. Now, I’m not asking you to marry my sorry ass or to fuck me in front of your precious boyfriend. Today, I’m only asking that you let me continue the kiss from earlier.” Matthew kept out the part that he was planning on fucking Edd eventually, but he didn’t want to scare him off.

“Fine!” Edd huffed in defeat. He sat on the bed, wanting at least a bit of comfort if he was going to allow himself to be degraded. Matthew was on him within seconds. Edd felt the man’s lips against his once more. He calmed himself by keeping Eddy and Ed in his thoughts. Ed would be so lost if Eddy and he didn’t get along as a result of his own feelings. If he didn’t comply with the man’s wishes, his secret would be revealed. 

The key to any successful transaction is to start with a bold gesture to reel in the unsuspecting individual. Then that got followed up with a negotiation between two people. That was the secret to how he was a successful scam artist and how he was so successful in the dating field. Though close-mouthed kisses were dull compared to other things, the kiss was enough to get the sixteen year old entangled into Matthew’s web.


	6. The Black Curtain

By the time Edd had a chance to go outside to help his friends; he had found Ed and Eddy slacking off in the yard. Eddy was in his Speedo swimsuit, sunbathing while Ed was pretending to be a vampire. To think Edd actually believed that those two would be working on the yard while he was blackmailed by Eddy’s brother. 

“My name is Ed-dula. I want to suck your blood!” Ed announced dramatically, one arm covered the lower half of his face. 

“Hey, Bela Lugosi, does it look like my blood is made out of gravy to you?” Eddy turned when he heard Edd giggling at the scene, “where the fuck have you been? Lumpy and I’ve been waiting forever for you to come out here.”

“I’m sorry gentlemen. I was taking care of my daily hygienic needs and searching for the hammer,” It was partially true, but Edd could not let Eddy or Ed know what or more importantly who was keeping him from heading outside sooner. “Ah, Eddy-“

“What?” Eddy turned his head and ducked as Ed tried to take a bite out of neck, “Ed, you idiot! You almost gave me a hickey! If you bite me, I swear! I’ll mail your ass to France!”

“Where I get to see someone’s underpants?” Ed asked.

“Please Ed, no rhythms,” Edd replied, awkwardly. “We need to start working on the yard.”

“We can’t do anything until my brother moves his stupid car,” Eddy complained. “Go get him, Double Dee!”

Edd sweated nervously. The last place he wanted to be in the lair of the beast again. “Uh, I-I’m sure we c-can wait a bit to ask your brother for the keys to his vehicle.”

“What’s with you?” Eddy eyed him strangely, “if I didn’t know better, I would assume that you’re about as lazy as Lumpy and I are.” 

“I just don’t feel up to it at the moment.” Edd hoped that Eddy didn’t notice that he wanted to avoid being alone with his brother again. 

“Alright, Sockhead.” Eddy yawned, “Fuck, I’m bored. I’m thinking about startin’ a fake I.D. business and charging everyone twenty bucks for one.”

“Really, Eddy? Can we do something that isn’t against the law?” Edd suggested. 

Eddy snorted, “I don’t see you two slackers thinking of something.”

“Eddy, we’ve committed many scams throughout the years. We’re bound to creative blocks.”Edd suggested, placing his hand on Eddy’s shoulder. Their scams may have seemed like countless efforts to make money. However, Ed, Edd, and secretly Eddy enjoyed the project side of creating new scams more than they cared about any monetary gain. Why else would they continue doing scams after failing so many times without quitting? The scams were something that the Eds shared together. Ed was the muscle who lifted objects that Eddy and Edd were too weak to be able to carry on their own. Edd came up with the blueprints, built the necessary tools for the scams, and formulated how the scam was going play out. –And Eddy was the supervisor of their scams. 

“Hi Kevin!” Ed loudly greeted the motorcycle-obsessed jock that hopped over the fence. Kevin looked absolutely furious. The redhead welded a carjack and advanced towards them. The teen’s face with flushed red and his eyes promised the Eds a severe beating.

Edd pulled Ed back away from Kevin. Eddy shouted at Kevin. “Geez, Shovel Chin! Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?”

“Which one of you dorks did it?” Kevin’s voice was barely audible; his body was shaking in rage.

“I honestly have no idea what you’re alluding to,” Edd stated. He had no idea what Kevin was infuriated about, but he was sure it had to be something serious.

“Nazz’s leg is broken, Rolf’s goat got ran over by that piece of shit Camaro in your yard, my fence is broken, and I’m ready to pound the dork that did it!” Kevin crackled his knuckles, hyping himself up for a possible fight, “So which one of you did it?”

“Kevin, I sympathize with your, Nazz’s, and Rolf’s loss, but Ed, Eddy, and I are not responsible for those horrible incidents.” Edd tried to reason with him.

“Kevin boy!” Rolf shouted rushing towards his friend, wearing what appears to be a cloak made out of goat fur. “Your carrots are hardened, but are vulnerable to infestation. Do not mourn the loss of Victor and Rolf. If the Ed boys are guilty of this injustice, they owe Rolf three bags of candied beets and five chickens.” Rolf’s calm demeanor quickly changed as he charged towards Eddy and started to strangle him. “Confess to your crimes, murderous Ed boy and Rolf might be merciful!”

“Dude!” Kevin stared in amazement as Rolf went after Eddy.

“Rolf, control yourself!” Edd tried to pull the foreign teen away from Eddy. He silently cursed how weak he was in strength. Why did Eddy’s brother have to come back and bring chaos to the cul-de-sac? They barely had anything to do with the mess, but Kevin and Rolf were going to hurt them until they started talking. 

Ed caught Kevin into a tight bear hug, “don’t hurt Double D and Eddy!” He kept repeating the phrase as Kevin struggled to break loose from Ed’s grip. The car jack fell out of Kevin’s hands and into the grass.

“Alright, that’s enough! Eddy’s brother is the current owner of that vehicle! He arrived at the house in the middle of the night, reeking of alcohol after he driven home from the bar.” Edd shouted. He couldn’t let Eddy continue to get hurt over something that his brother did. One of the puzzling things about the situation was that Eddy was willingly to let himself get hurt for his brother’s sake.

Before Rolf and Kevin could process what Edd told them, a feminine shriek got their attentions, “Kev! Rolf! What is going on here? Let Eddy go!” She was in her white cheerleading shirt and a pair of spandex shorts. A large cast covered most of her right leg. She made her way towards them, using a pair of new crutches to assist her in walking. “Ed, Edd, and Eddy didn’t do it. I seen Eddy’s brother driving that car.” Rolf quickly let go of Eddy while Ed released Kevin. Eddy coughed as he was able to breathe again. 

“Nazz, how much damage was done to the cul-de-sac as a result of Matt- Eddy’s brother’s reckless driving?” Edd asked, afraid of the answer.

“Dude, the playground and part of the Lane is completely destroyed.” Nazz started to tell them what happened the night before. Nazz was walking home from her night shift at the diner and used the playground as a shortcut home. Rolf was walking his goat around near the road. Nazz heard Rolf’s screams as his goat became the first causality of Matthew’s destructive path back home. Nazz took cover on top of the slide, which she gotten thrown off of when the slide became the next target, explaining how she ended up with her broken leg.

“Oh dear!” Edd went to Eddy’s side and examined the handprints on Eddy’s neck. He wanted so badly to tell Eddy that his brother would only bring further misfortune to them, but he stopped himself, realizing that Eddy was in extreme denial over his brother. Eddy constantly made excuses over his brother’s callous mistreatment of him throughout the years. Even after what happened at Mondo A-Go Go, Eddy still wouldn’t step up to his own brother. 

Neither one of the Eds dared to speak unless they had to. Tensions were high enough without them adding to it. Surprisingly, Rolf also remained quiet. Nazz limped towards Kevin. “Dude, you, like, need to watch your temper. I know you wanted to help me and Rolf, but there are better ways to do it, dude. I need help carrying extra stuff around my house for the next month. Think you would be able to do it, Kev?” The smile on her was warm and friendly. Kevin melted from the sight of that smile alone.

“Of course, Nazz,” Kevin replied, feeling nervous, “let’s head back to my house and get you some ice cream or something.” The redhead practically swooned over the blond as he did when he first laid eyes upon her years ago.

Nazz giggled, “You’re funny! I’ll take you up on that ice cream offer.”

“Righteous. I’ll see you a few. I need to tell Rolf something first.”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting at your place,” Nazz waved to Rolf and the Eds as she headed in the direction of Kevin’s house.

“Oh ho! Kevin boy is finally to confess his love for Go-Go Nazz girl!” Rolf teased, both of them ignoring the fact that the shell-shocked Eds could hear their conversation.

“It’s not like that, man,” Kevin rubbed the back of his own neck, nervously, “I’m just doing her a favor, man.”

“Sure, Kevin-boy! When is Rolf expected to receive wedding invitation?” Rolf grinned at Kevin’s blush.

“Hey, can’t a guy get one lousy shower without listening to you ankle-biters’ high-pitch whines all the way from the bathroom?” Matthew stood outside the back door in only a silk bathrobe and a pair of plaid boxers. The males in the McGee household had an extremely different view on modesty that what Edd was accustomed to. Edd’s father would’ve scowled him for the things that Eddy walked around outside in on several occasions. 

Kevin lost all color in his face, but still tried maintain the façade of confidence and bravery, “Hey, bro guy! Nazz broke her leg and Rolf lost his goat, because of you! I should start giving you some just desserts.”

“If he’s going to be giving Eddy’s brother a cake, can I have one too?” Ed asked.

Eddy yanked down on Ed’s ear and hissed, “Shut up, Ed!” Glancing around the yard, he hoped that fight doesn’t break out his yard. He was still too hung over to deal with the drama that his own brother stirred up in the neighborhood. If he sided with the neighbors, he faced whatever physical abuse his brother could dish out on him when he was home. If he sided with his brother, he faced whatever abuse the neighbors dished out when he dared to venture the neighborhood he grew up in. The situation was like trying to decide if he would rather get dick chopped off or have his testicles removed.

“Yeah, I don’t give a rat’s ass about your little girlfriend or your little boyfriend’s animals. If you think that you can take me on, go ahead, but I’m not responsible when you find yourself in the hospital.”

“Gentlemen, can we find another way to resolve this issue without resorting to barbarism?” Edd’s pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Let’s how you say `even the playing field’” Rolf removed his shirt, preparing himself to fight Eddy’s brother.

“So which one of you girls want to play uncle first?” Matthew asked, ominously. 

Terror was written across Kevin’s face. The only time they have seen Kevin act like that was when Eddy had found out about Kevin’s fear of needles in middle school and decided torment him over it. “I h-have to go, Rolf! I’ll catch you later,” Kevin ran back to his house without a second glance.

“Kevin! Why you run with tail between legs like one of Rolf’s chickens?” Rolf called out to his friends retreating form and faced Matthew, “a black curtain has befallen the cul-de-sac. The grim face of death mocks the son of a shepherd and his livestock with his beady black eyes and goatee.” Rolf feared Matthew as much as the rest of them did and ran in the direction that Kevin headed, “wait for Rolf!”

“God, I hate foreigners,” Matthew muttered under his breath. He grinned at the three Eds who were still backed into the corner of the yard like three small mice that were about to become the next meal of a ball python. “Relax. Unlike the rest of these goodie-two-shoes in this dump, you three actually know your place. Anyway, I’m about to order pizza and movies later. I figured us four can hang out until then.” 

Eddy grinned nervously, “sure, Bro! That sounds awesome!”


	7. Movies

Matthew couldn’t even begin to describe the Eds’ behavior. They acted like a bumbling, comedy trio. One of them would do something to annoy the other and the other would chase them around Eddy’s room. Was this how close friends are supposed to interact? Most of the friends Matthew had growing up were fair-weathered friends and people he used to get free stuff out of. Matthew hated to admit it, but he was kind of envious at the bond the Eds shared.

Edd fussed over Ed and Eddy. Both of them laid on the ground after Ed pounced on Eddy from the disco ball in room. Ed was reenacting a scene from a horror movie where a Gorgon dropped from a ceiling and attacked an unsuspecting couple in the movie. Matthew guessed that Ed didn’t mean to hurt Eddy and was too lost in his own world to consider the consequences of his actions, but he could care less about what the big lug was trying to do. 

The seemingly innocent scene in front of him was undeniably arousing. Edd was on his knees, checking his friends for broken bones and propping their heads up against pillows that he recently fluffed. Both of the boys have been knocked out. Edd patted their cheeks lightly, trying to get them conscious. After that, Edd went to presumably get ice packs.

Smirking, Matthew went into one of the broom closets of the house and got out the bottle of Armenian hot sauce. He was surprised that it was still in the same spot that he had hid it after all of these years. Edd was filling a bag with ice when Matthew passed by with hot sauce jug in hand. The teen was too busy to notice Matthew walking by. When Matthew had returned to the room, the two Eds were still unconscious in the middle of the floor. 

He leaned over the boys and untwisted the cap of the hot sauce bottle, “Still unconscious, huh? Well, bottom’s up, boys!” He tilted Eddy’s chin down and poured the spicy liquid into Eddy’s mouth. The hot sauce dribbled down his chin. Matthew also poured some into Ed’s mouth and closed the bottle afterward. “I guess you two aren’t fakin’ it.” Matthew cackled and shoved the hot sauce under Eddy’s bed.

Edd returned back to the room a minute later with two bags of ice. Matthew sat on Eddy’s bed, bored out of his mind. He could think of a million things that he would rather be doing than watching the two Eds lay on the ground like two bumps on a log, even though he got to see Edd bent over the two teens. “Shouldn’t you be calling 9-1-1 for your boyfriend and Cheesehead?” 

“If they’re not conscious within the next three minutes I will.” Edd placed the bags on ice on their heads to get the swelling down. He noticed a red liquid poured down Eddy’s lips. Edd gathered the liquid using his first two fingers and inspected the liquid closely. He knew that liquid anywhere. Back when they were 12, Eddy had the great idea to create a taco stand where the tacos were made from paper plates, orange crayon shavings, weeds, and a certain special ingredient which Edd drank, a lapse in judgment on his part. That horrible ingredient was like liquid fire in his mouth. Edd has yet to taste anything that spicy since then. He wasn’t sure how it rated on the Scoville scale, but Edd was sure it ranked higher than Bhut Jolokia, or as they’re commonly known, ghost peppers. Eddy’s brother’s Armenian hot sauce might as well be renamed the hot sauce from hell. 

“You rapscallion! Does this look like the time for one of your insidious pranks?” Edd snapped at the owner of the hot sauce. Edd searched the room for the old “Canadian squirt guns” that Eddy still had in his closet. After finding them, Edd used them to suck the hot sauce out of his friend’s mouths. “They could’ve drowned on your hot sauce!”

“I haven’t heard of anyone drowning on hot sauce, especially on my homemade Carolina Reaper hot sauce recipe. The trick is to find the proper mix of spices to give the Carolina Reaper sauce a little kick instead of subtracting from the pepper’s already powerful taste.” Matthew boasted, watching Edd remove one of Ed’s shoes. He noticed that Edd was getting green in the face from the smell of the shoe. Unfortunately for Matthew, he could smell the foul odor from the shoe where he was sitting. Edd dangled the shoe in front of Eddy’s nose. “My horrible pranks, huh? At least I’m not trying to destroy Pipsqueak’s sense of smell.”

Edd shot the man a look and turned his attention back to Eddy. Eddy slowly regained consciousness and squealed when he seen   
Ed’s shoe in front of him, “What the hell, Sockhead! Are you trying to kill me?”

The teen could only giggle as a response, thankful that Eddy didn’t need to go to the emergency room. He held the shoe to Ed’s nose. Ed regained consciousness as well after several seconds. The tallest teen of the trio looked around the room and grinned. He and Eddy were back to normal.

“Hi guys! What did I miss?” Ed asked.

“Your brain and my sense of smell,” Eddy replied, sarcastically. Ed only laughed as a response to the statement. Suddenly the hot sauce began its torture on Eddy’s mouth. His face turned bright red and his eyes watered.

“Ed, you and Eddy fell unconscious when you pounced on him during one of your reenactments of your favorite horror movies.” Edd explained.

“Cool!” Ed said. Ed’s and Eddy’s faces turned as red as the peppers the hot sauce was made from and ran out screaming for water. Edd could hear Matthew roaring with laughter as he rushed out after them, “fellas, I can get you a glass of milk.” 

Ed had the garden hose in his mouth, sucking at the rushing water. Eddy hovered over Ed, batting at his hands, “quit hogging the hose, Lumpy!” Eddy turned to Edd, “great practical joke, Sockhead! It’s not as if I needed my sense of taste and smell! I’ve got a special prank stored for you just you wait.”

“Eddy, I was not the one that put hot sauce in your mouth or Ed’s,” Edd tried to explain. 

~*~

A few hours later, they found themselves outside of the video store. One of the Eds in particular was hopping up and down with excitement. Ed placed his face against the glass and looked eagerly at the horror movie section. “Only one rule while you three are in here, don’t embarrass the fuck out of me! Also, this will the only time I pay for pizzas and movies. Don’t expect it to become a habit.”

“Sure, bro!” Eddy nodded. Ed was first one in the store, browsing every single movie that was in the section. Eddy headed to another part of the store. The documentary section looked promising to the bookish sixteen year old. Edd picked up every documentary in the store, scanning over the movie descriptions. “This documentary would be suitable for a movie night.” The history of Ancient Rome, a time of great technological and cultural advancements, was perfect for a movie night. 

“Hey, Double D, did you pick out a movie yet?” Eddy and Ed were behind him with movies in their hands. The cover of Ed’s movie shown a demon consuming a plantation house and Eddy’s shown a scantily clad woman armed with handguns.

“Yes, I suppose,” Edd nodded, showing them the movie he had gotten. Edd took the movies from his friends’ hands and examined them. “I hate to be the bearer of bad business, but you can’t purchase these movies.”

“Why the hell not?” Eddy asked.

“It’s rated R, Eddy,” Edd stated, “You’ll just have to wait a year before you see them.”

“It’s not fair!” Ed complained, “I really want to see the movie, Double D!”

Eddy growled in frustration and turned to the movie Edd picked out, “Ha! Looks like you’re not getting your movie either!”

“Impossible!” The movie was shoved in his face where he seen the rating of the documentary: It was rated R, “the gall of the Motion Picture Association of America! Equalizing an educational documentary with mindless trash! I suppose I’ll have to find another movie to watch.”

“Hold on there, Sockhead.” Eddy then started whispering to them, “we can always get my brother to rent the movies for us.” 

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Edd cautioned, “I doubt your brother’s actions are out of genuine brotherly affection. I think he’s doing it in an attempt to gain something from the experience. We should prevent ourselves from being in that man’s debt.”

“But Double D!” Ed whined, “Monster movie!”

“You worry too much, Sockhead,” Eddy grabbed all three movies and went looking for his brother. 

“What’s the use of trying to instill logic in those two,” Edd mumbled, following Eddy and Ed around the store. The twenty four year old was chatting up the cashier. The fact that he was being flirtatious was pretty obvious to everyone, but the cashier – and maybe Ed. Matthew seen them coming and waved. “Are you three done yet?”

“Yeah, bro,” Eddy handed his brother the three movies.

Matthew looked over the movies, “Attack of the Incubus, Confessions of a Stripper, and Ancient Rome: The Complete History. Alright.” Matthew didn’t even need to ask which Ed rented which movie. It was pretty obvious just from the titles alone. He checked out all three of the movies without a word. 

*~*

“Use a paper plate,” Edd chided his friends who grabbed the first two slices. Matthew had picked up the pizzas after they had left the video store. It helped to have a pizzeria near the video store. Two pizza boxes sat on top of the coffee table. One was a cheeseless meat pizza with green peppers and onions and the other was a pizza with everything on it. 

Ed ate his slice of pizza in two bites, “this reminds me of the zombie apocalypse movie where the survivors locked themselves in a mall and survived on pizza from one of the restaurants.”

“Careful, Ed. You’ll burn your mouth,” Edd grabbed a slice and gingerly took a bit, sitting it on his plate. “Where are my matters? Thank you Matthew for your generosity.” Even though Edd didn’t trust the intentions of the man, he couldn’t discourteous to him. 

“Not a problem,” Matthew replied, taking a bite a cheeseless pizza.

“Thanks bro,” Eddy replied, yelping when Ed ate the pizza out of his hand like a hungry piranha, “Ed, you pig! That was my slice of pizza!”

“Hey Eddy, why is there a pizza with no cheese on it?” Ed asked.

“Because my brother can’t have cheese, Ed.” Eddy replied, grabbing another slice from the pizza with everything on it. Eddy turned to Edd, “Geez, Double D, you’re such a girl!”

“I beg your pardon, Eddy?” 

“Diet soda with pizza? Only chicks drink that stuff!” Eddy teased, “I’m surprised you didn’t want a salad to go with that.”

Edd took a sip out of his soda, “I didn’t want to consume a lot of sugar before bed, Eddy.” 

They watched Ed’s horror movie first. The movie was about six cousins who visited a plantation house that they inherited. The cousins decided to stay in different rooms of the house for the weekend to decide if the house was worth keeping. An incubus had begun attacking the cousins one by one, seducing and sleeping with its victim before the victim’s death and then consuming them, until only half of the cousins survived. The plot twist of the movie was that their grandfather was a warlock that purposely summoned the incubus and made a deal with it that he would give the thing his own grandchildren in exchange for material wealth.

“That thing should be summoned to the Kanker house!” Eddy joked in the middle of the movie.

Ed gave his friend an uncharacteristic scowl, “that’s not funny, Eddy!”

“What’s with you?” Ed didn’t answer Eddy’s question and turned back to the movie. Edd found the movie to be disturbing to say the least. After the movie was over, Eddy wanted to watch the one he picked out next. To Edd’s surprise, Matthew remained quiet during the last movie, only chuckling at the victim’s stupidity during the chase scenes. Ed fell asleep ten minutes into Eddy’s movie.

Eddy’s movie was about a stripper, obviously. The movie was an urban drama about a stripper who made a few dangerous enemies. Just like with Ed’s movie, Eddy’s movie had too many sex scenes for Edd’s taste. A plotline revolving around money, check. A busty stripper protagonist with loose sex morals, check. Excessive gun violence, check. The movie was definitely right up Eddy’s alley. Then it was time to watch Edd’s movie. Five minutes into the documentary, Eddy had fallen asleep, leaving Edd alone to watch his documentary in peace. 

Halfway through, Edd felt someone sit behind him. Their chest pressed against his back. Their arms were wrapped around his midsection. Their chin rested upon his shoulder. He didn’t need to turn his head to know exactly who was behind him. “Matthew, what are you doing?”

“I’m just watching the documentary with you,” Edd could feel the man’s warm breath on his cheek, “looks like Cheesehead and Pipsqueak fell asleep on you. That’s too bad!”

Edd shivered as he tried to remain calm. His mind raced, thinking of what the man had planned this time. He was torn between wanting to wake up Edd and Eddy and not wanting to. If Ed and Eddy woke up, they would have seen Eddy’s brother wrapped around him like a snake squeezing its’ prey and rescue him from the man’s grip. However, that possibility was a double edged sword. They would’ve seen the predicament that he was in and probably assume the worst. “Get your hands off of me.”

“Play nice, Princess. I still know your secret.” Edd felt Matthew rubbing lazy circles on his stomach, “besides, how will Pipsqueak react to the thought of his best friend wanting his dick and seducing his older brother.”

“The latter never happened!” Edd gritted his teeth, adrenaline rushing through his veins, He never been more ready to slap Matthew than he was at that moment. If he left, physically assaulted the man, or refused the man, his secret would’ve been exposed. He had to do something and chose to do the worst possible thing that he could’ve chosen in the situation. 

He turned himself around and threw himself at Matthew. He forced his lips upon the man’s and moaned into the kiss. He wanted to express his irritation at the man and choose to do it in the worst possible way. Despite his intentions being to kiss the man quickly as possible, he still moaned quietly. He silently cursed his own hormones for the millionth time since he had become a teenager.

Matthew set Edd on the ground, not breaking the kiss. The man got on top of him. Edd looked around, anxiously, hoping that the only people he had left in Peach Creek did not witness him lose his morals in such a way. Matthew’s tongue darted out, demanding entrance into his own mouth. Edd complied in a haze of confused pleasure to the older man’s advances. The strange thing was that this was the first time he’s ever been French kissed. Marie Kanker was always content at just covering his face with regular kisses. The couple of times he had been kissed by Eddy were not French kisses either. Besides the drunken kiss that they shared recently, Eddy had kissed him once when they were both twelve. Of course, their first kiss was the result of Eddy being blackmailed by Kevin over his middle name, but a kiss was still a kiss, regardless.

Matthew had finally pulled away, grinning, “It’s always the nice ones that are so willing, I swear. You did well, Girlfriend.”   
Edd’s heart sank as he lifted himself from the ground. The guilt from what he had done sank in. He allowed the man to kiss him again – a kiss that he had started nonetheless. He allowed the man to stick his tongue inside of his mouth. He wished there was a way to reverse what had happened, but knew that there was no way to take back what he had done. The worst part was that experience felt pleasant to him. He noticed that Matthew had left the room after he was finished. He eyed his friends’ sleeping forms guiltily and watched the rest of the documentary in an attempt to take his mind off of everything.


	8. Funeral for a Goat

A couple of days had passed since their movie night. The three Eds parked inside of the junkyard, one of the odd times that they had to unwind and reflect on their current situation. The junkyard served as a place where they could escape to figure out the solution to their problems. They were in the same van they sat in various times during their youth as well. The only difference was that the purple van was now operational and didn’t reside in the junkyard like it used to. More nostalgic memories when Edd had seen what remained of their old cardboard city that stood abandoned and decayed. It was a reminder of their lost youth.

Something was on Eddy’s mind. Edd could see it written across his face. When Eddy had dragged Edd and Ed into the van for a drive, he looked quite serious. Edd tried to ponder what was on Eddy’s mind. After the movie night, Matthew had them working around the house and the yard. Eddy had gotten yard work while Edd had gotten household duties such as laundry, meal preparation, and cleaning. It was stuff that he was used to when his parents were still around. He took great pride at being able to keep things neat and organized. 

However, there were a few annoyances that made doing what he considered second nature difficult – all of them revolving around Matthew. Edd can deal with the fact that Matthew would rather drink his weight in alcohol than help them with chores. However, the constant rear grabbing, spanking, sexual taunts, and general tomfoolery made it difficult for Edd to complete his chores. Edd gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the man’s actions. 

Ed’s question broke Edd away from his thoughts, “why does the white knight talk backwards, Double D?”

“I honestly have no idea, Ed,” Edd had no idea where the random question came from, but he was used to the random questions that Ed asked. “Victor’s funeral is today. I believe that we should attend as a gesture of good will.”

“Us attending a funeral for a goat? I’d rather watch Rolf trim his back hair,” Eddy heard Ed sobbing in back over the news. Ed was lounged on the waterbed in the back when he heard the news. It was not a secret that the tallest of three was close to Rolf’s animals, much to Eddy’s and Rolf’s chagrin throughout the years. It only made sense that Ed would’ve taken Victor’s death hard, once he realized that Victor was not coming back. Eddy sighed, “Quit blubbering back there, Lumpy. Rolf will get a new goat.”

“It’s not the same,” Ed sniffled. 

“Eddy, try to be more understanding of Rolf’s and Ed’s situations. They lost an animal that they were both close to. I would suggest coming with Ed and me to the funeral this afternoon. It would do you some good to go.” Edd suggested lightly, patting Ed’s hand to get him to calm down.

“I don’t have to do shit. I wasn’t the one that ran over the goat,” Eddy shouted, losing his temper, “besides; I’m more worried about what the hell you two are hiding from me!”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Edd asked, baffled by his friend’s outburst.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Eddy retorted harshly. Edd felt cold sweat trickling down the back to his neck. He racked his brain trying to figure out which of the two secrets that Eddy found out about. “You’ve been keeping shit from me. You and Lumpy both have!”

“I honestly haven’t a clue about what you’re talking about.” Edd yelped as Eddy leaned dangerously close, staring him down with his piercing gaze. Edd tilted his head to the side to avoid Eddy’s gaze. He caught a whiff of the cheap cologne that Eddy loved to douse himself in after he had taken a shower. 

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Eddy exclaimed, “Ed’s mysterious girlfriends and whatever you’re hiding from me, Sockhead. Fess up!”

“Eddy, I’m not hiding anything from you. It’s all in your head,” Edd was now in a spot where he had to choose between pissing Eddy off by revealing that he made out with his brother, losing Eddy’s friendship over his feelings for him, and infuriating Eddy with his silence. One option was as bad as the other. 

Eddy made his way into the back of the van, “alright Lumpy. What’s the name of your girlfriends?”

“I’m not telling you!” Ed protested, “Soap bad for Ed!” 

Edd turned around and seen that Eddy had a bar of soap in his hand. “Drop the soap!”

“Not until Casanova spills the details about which girls he’s been screwing.” Eddy waved the bar soap at Ed. Ed was backed into the corner looking at the bar of soap with terror. His skin was as white as a sheet. “C’mon Lumpy! Give me the names.” This wasn’t the first nor would it be the last time, Eddy used a person’s phobia for his own personal gain. When they still attended Peach Creek Jr. High, Eddy used Kevin’s Trypanophobia against him as a cruel practical joke. Eddy had also disregarded Edd’s fear of the game of dodgeball quite a few times when he was either doing scams related to the game or just boasting about the game being what defines people as men. 

Edd jumped on Eddy’s back, pulling him down onto the floor. Eddy was much heavier than he was and Edd already started to feel himself lose oxygen, “S-stop it! Respect Ed’s wishes! If he does not want to disclose who his girlfriends are then don’t pry into his personal business!”

“Why are you touching the family jewels?” Eddy asked, lifting himself off of Edd.

Edd’s eyes widened and he pulled his hand away. He yanked down his hat, blushing for the hundredth time that week. “That was never my intention.” Edd muttered under his hat.

“Whatever. You two are lucky I’m dropping you two off at Rolf’s,” Eddy got back into the driver’s seat. “I thought we would be more open with each other, but whatever. I’ll be on you two like warts until I find out what you’ve been hiding from me!”

The drive to Rolf’s house had only taken a couple of minutes. Edd and Ed had gotten out wordlessly. Edd managed to calm down Ed during the ride over by reminding Ed that Rolf’s chickens were still at the farm. That seemed to cheer Ed up. Someone from the neighborhood brought in a folding table for Rolf to put several strange looking dishes upon. 

All of the teens from the neighborhood also seemed to have attended the funeral. Everyone but Eddy and the Kanker Sisters was there. Sarah, Nazz, and Jimmy were talking amongst themselves. Jonny was chatting with Plank about getting his head stuck in a window earlier. Johnny had headphones around the back of his neck. Rolf was just finishing digging a hole to put Victor in while Kevin sat back and watched. 

There were three adults that also were in attendance. Two of the adults bore a striking resemblance to Rolf. The man looked like he could’ve broken Edd in half like a twig if he wanted to. The man had muscles that could’ve only come from years of heavy lifting and back-breaking farming. Judging from the nasal wart on the man’s nose and the similar facial structure that the man and Rolf shared, Edd guessed the man to be Rolf’s father. The woman with the long gray hair had to be Rolf’s mother. By the tales Rolf told everyone in the neighborhood, the tall, overweight, elderly woman with a wooden leg had to be Rolf’s grandmother or “Nana” as he called her.

Edd looked around with discomfort. Funerals were never the easiest types of social environments to be in, including funerals for animals. He didn’t think he would be able to say much to Rolf during the funeral, except for offering his condolences to Rolf’s loss. Rolf had noticed the two standing by the wooden fence and waved at them. “It is nice for Rolf to see Ed-boys make an appearance. Are you going to stand there like cows or are you going to join Rolf in his dreary party for Victor?”

“Thank you, Rolf,” Edd politely stepped over the wooden fence rails to the familiar pungent scent of farm animals and manure. “I’m terribly sorry for your loss.” 

“Where’s the other Ed-boy?” Rolf asked.

“He couldn’t make it. He’s quite busy at the moment, but he sends his condolences.” Edd lied. Telling white lies seems to be a new habit to teen. The lies he told Eddy and Rolf put Edd in a moral dilemma. Is it better to lie to spare someone the pain of the truth? Edd wished that he had an answer to that. Reading twenty encyclopedias on the subject of lying and human emotions would not even help Edd deal with the problems he had.

“Rolf suppose that Ed-boy was too lazy to come, yes?” Rolf gestured towards the food table, “there’s plenty of food for couch creature Ed-boys until ceremony.” Rolf noticed Ed heading towards his chickens and yelled out towards him, “Ed-boy! Why must you pester Rolf’s fowl?”

“But I love chickens, Rolf!” Ed ran as Rolf chased after him.

“You know everything on that table is made from Victor, right?” The jock’s voice startled Edd for a moment, “It’s a tradition in Rolf’s country to consume their farm animals after the animal has died unless the meat is bad or is infected with a disease. The funeral, food, and the cape that Rolf wears around are all a way of honoring the goat.”

“I see,” Edd nodded. Rolf and his family have so many strange customs that it was hard to keep track of them all. “You certainly know so much about Rolf’s customs.”

“I’ve been friends with him for years. You don’t think I would’ve picked up a few things about him and his family, Double Dweeb?” 

“Right, of course!” Having conversations with Kevin was always kind of awkward for him. Sure Kevin has bullied him and his friends since Mondo A-Go Go, but Edd still felt uneasy around the guy. “Is Nazz alright? I know that Rolf’s been upset about Victor.”

“Rolf can manage. He has Nazz and me to help him deal with the death of Victor. Nazz still has a couple of months in a cast. Nazz is a tough babe; she won’t let a broken leg from a psycho get to her.” Kevin spoke with such pride over Nazz. It was almost as if Kevin and Nazz were already dating. Of course, almost all of the guys in the neighborhood had crushes on Nazz at one point or another, but it seemed that Kevin still had a crush on her. With the conversation that Rolf and Kevin had in Eddy’s backyard, Kevin’s crush on Nazz became extremely obvious to anyone who heard what Rolf and Kevin said to each other.

“That’s great to hear.” Edd didn’t know how else to respond to the news. It seemed odd that Kevin, Rolf, and Nazz never went forward to the police. Matthew could have received a Class E Felony for what happened to Nazz if he was tried in court. Not counting the additional charges of reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, property damage, and animal cruelty. 

“So, how have you and Dorky been since that psycho moved back in?” Edd hoped that Kevin would not ask that. The subject of Eddy’s brother was a complicated matter. On one hand, he did to seem to have his good moments. On the other hand, the man was not the most trustworthy individual that Edd knew and only did things when it best suited him. Plus the man was pretty slovenly, a miscreant, and not the best role model for Eddy or anyone else. 

“He hasn’t hurt Ed, Eddy, or me since he moved back. He did pull one of his despicable scams on Ed and Eddy and has a tendency of talking about indecent topics, but that’s all.” Kevin gave him a hard look. It wasn’t out of anger or disgusted. It almost look like it was out of concern, but Edd did not want to assume anything. “I-I should go find Ed. It was nice talking to you again, Kevin!”

Edd dashed off to find Ed. He didn’t want Kevin to even have an inkling of what he even kept a secret from Eddy. When he found Ed again by the chicken pen, Ed was sitting with Gertrude. The chicken rested peacefully in his arms. “I think she likes me, Double D!”

“Loveable Oaf,” Edd smiled softly, leaning against one of the trees.

The rest of the funeral went along smoothly. Rolf’s father delivered a tearful eulogy in his native tongue near a burlap sack that contained Victor’s remains. Rolf broke down and wailed into Kevin and Nazz’s shoulder. Rolf and his family really cared about their livestock and it shown on each of their faces as Rolf’s father carried Victor’s remains and rolled it inside of the deep hole Rolf had dug. Edd consoled Ed while Rolf and his father covered Victor’s remains with dirt. Edd’s shirt had gotten wet from Ed’s tears. Edd patted Ed’s head gently as he watched the hole getting filled. 

The only ones who ate after the hole was filled was Rolf, his family, Ed and Jonny. Edd didn’t have the heart to tell Ed what actually he was eating. He figured Ed had enough sorrow for one day. The sun slowly started to set on the Cul-de-Sac.


	9. Quid Pro Quo

Edd had returned to the McGee residence after he walked Ed home. The home was quiet as a ghost town. All of the lights were out and nobody was in the kitchen or the living room. Edd flipped on the switch and called out, “Eddy? Matthew? Are you two here?” The thought occurred to Edd that Eddy could still be upset with him and would not answer him even if he was home.

He spotted Matthew walking down the upstairs hallway. Edd was kind of relieved that someone was home besides himself. Relief was quickly replaced with discomfort when he seen that the man was walking around shirtless. Silently cursing his overactive traitorous hormones yet again, he caught himself staring at the man. Edd hated to admit it, but the man was attractive. Edd had seen the man shirtless before when the man stolen one of his hats, but after the special “attention” he had received from the man, the sight had left him tongue-tied. 

Edd quickly turned around to avoid facing the man, “Oh hello Matthew. Have you seen Eddy around?”

“Yeah, he’s in his room.” Matthew replied, “Though I doubt you’re going to be sleeping in there tonight. Pipsqueak’s been acting like a drama queen since he got back and locked himself in his room. He won’t even let me in.”

Edd turned around to see if Matthew was deceiving him. The man looked like he was telling the truth, “I’ll go talk with him.” Edd rushed to Eddy’s room and knocked on the door, “Eddy, it’s me! Open up!”

“Take a hike, Double D.” Eddy snapped.

“C’mon Eddy! I told you before that I have nothing to hide.” Edd knocked on the door again.

“Bullshit,” Eddy retorted, “I know that you’re hiding something from me! I don’t know what it is yet, but I’ll find out!”

“Eddy, can’t we discuss this like mature individuals?”

“I don’t wanna talk it over. I don’t want to see you tonight. I just want to go to bed, so leave me the hell alone!” Eddy yelled, “out of all of the people I expected to keep secrets from me, you and Ed are the very last people I would’ve expected that from!”

“Eddy, just listen to me,” Edd heard loud music coming from Eddy’s room. Eddy obviously turned his record player on full blast so that he didn’t have to listen to Edd. Edd sneered at the door and threw up a rude gesture at it as he left to figure out a solution to his bed problem. Eddy’s parents’ room is padlocked to prevent anyone from entering. The lime green couch in Eddy’s living room would not provide his back with adequate support. His idea of sleeping at his own house for the night was quickly dashed when he realized that the key to his own house was in Eddy’s room. 

Making up his mind about sleeping on the couch for the night, he searched around the house for a pillow and a blanket. After searching every corner of the ground floor for a pillow and a blanket, his search came up empty. Another problem was that his clothes were in Eddy’s room and his laundry was in the one room that he couldn’t get to. It seemed that luck was not on his side. 

He sighed, realizing that he didn’t have a choice but to sleep on the uncomfortable couch in his clothes for the night. He walked towards the living room where Matthew was lounging on the place where he wanted to sleep. “Please remove yourself from the couch. That’s my current sleeping arrangement.”

“On this old thing? It murders your back. I’m telling you,” Matthew replied.

“Well, I’ve only got a limited number of options to sleep in this house.” 

“Is that so?” Matthew flashed Edd a half-suggestive, half-serious grin, “Ever consider my bed one of those options?”

“I apologize, Matthew, but I’m going to have to decline your offer,” It was completely improper for a grown man and a sixteen year old to share a bed. His mother and father would’ve never approved of such a notion. The man also made his amorous intentions towards him quite clear. The terrifying part about all of it was that he felt some kind of lustful infatuation for the man as well. He couldn’t allow himself to completely abandon his own morals though.

Matthew snickered, “are you sure about that?” Matthew laid back on the couch to prove his point. He grimaced as he experienced sharp pains in several parts of his back. He was definitely going to need someone to walk on his back later; hopefully a certain scrawny teen would be the one that did it. “Help me up.” He extended his hand towards Edd. 

Edd was hesitant in taking his hand. He checked to see if Matthew was going to pull a prank on him or grope on him like he had been doing for a few days. He sighed and tried to pull the man up. Tried would be the best word for it. He could barely even help lift the man up with his strength or lack thereof. 

Matthew gave him an amused chuckle, lifting himself off of the couch with some difficulty, “Christ, you’re weak.”

“E-excuse me? There is a bit of a contrast between our weights.”

“You can say that again,” Edd did not like that glint in his eye. He was either planning on humiliating him or doing something perverted again. How much of his diminishing willpower was Matthew planning on testing? “First of all, you look like you weigh 120 pounds soaking wet.” Matthew pressed himself closer to Edd and snaked his arm around Edd’s waist to keep him in place. “Your arms are as skinny as twigs.” Matthew purred in Edd’s ear as he caressed the skin of his arm. The man’s touch actually felt nice, but he wouldn’t let Matthew know that. The hand that was used to caress his arm moved towards his torso where the man continued his caresses, “you’re also pretty scrawny. Not that I mind.”

“Yeah, I bet you don’t,” Edd replied, sarcastically.

Matthew laughed harshly. Anything that came out of Edd’s mouth only seemed to provoke Matthew’s lustful desires. “You still got it, Princess.” Matthew pinched Edd’s nipple through his shirt, eliciting a squeak from the other male. “Damn, Sockhead. You seem to be enjoying yourself more that I thought you would.” Matthew’s voice was getting huskier. The insides of Edd’s thighs were Matthew’s target for slow and sensual torture. 

“Cease your groping! Eddy might emerge at any given moment from his room and catch us in our current position,” Edd gasped out between moans. His heart raced when he realized that they were both sitting on the ground and he was sitting on the man’s lap with his own legs spread. He could feel the man’s body heat behind him.

“I doubt Pipsqueak would come out for the rest of the night.” Matthew’s hands moved up his legs towards his crotch. 

Edd quickly stood up to save some of his dignity and self-respect. “Not tonight, Matthew. I’m pretty exhausted.”

“Alright,” Matthew wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm, “Pipsqueak threw some clothes at me to give to you for bed and for tomorrow. Man, if I didn’t know better, I would’ve sworn that you two are an old married couple.”

“Ha ha!” Edd crossed his arms, not amused by the old married couple comment, “Just give me my pajamas.”

“Alright, sheesh! Just head towards the bathroom and I’ll get your clothes.” Matthew headed towards his own room. Edd made his way towards the bathroom and waited for Eddy’s brother. He sat on the side of the tub, staring at the powder blue painted walls. 

He yearned for the times when things were much simpler, when the biggest thing he had to worry about was numerous failed scams, schoolwork, chores, and the pursuit of knowledge. Now, it feels that his life is filled with confusion over his relationship with his closest friends, his wanton desires, and the disappearance of his parents. He read in several books that everything he was experiencing was perfectly normal and natural even. However, the variety of emotions that came with puberty did not feel natural to him. The only thing he could use describe what puberty was like for him was the book Lord of the Flies. It seemed like law and order was quickly being replaced by barbarism like what happened on that island in the novel. He was fighting a losing battle with his id. The id part of him just wanted to break down over the disappearance of his parents, give in to his own sexual desires, and be more open to his own friends about what was going on.

Matthew came into the bathroom and handed him his clothes. “Thank you, Matthew.” Edd sat the clothes on the counter. 

“Not a problem,” Matthew said, inspecting his fingernails for dirt, “I’m also having my kids over for the day tomorrow. If everything goes over smoothly, I have a surprise for you both afterward.”

“I can hardly wait,” Edd didn’t know what kind of surprise the man had in order, but he was already suspicious of what the man had planned. The pizzas and movies from a couple of nights ago were nice, but who’s to say the next surprise would be just as harmless. Edd also feared how exactly Matthew would interact with his own daughters. Being a blood relative of Matthew’s didn’t spare his friend Eddy from years of physical abuse. At least he would be there to at least get the girls to Kevin’s house if Matthew beat up on his own daughters. 

Edd went through his clothes to check to see if he had everything that he needed for the night. Instead of his own boxers, he found an item that he would never consider wearing in a million years; Neon green snake skin printed low rise boxers made from Lycra fabric. There’s only two people in the whole world that he knew of that would wear something that gaudy; Eddy and Matthew. “I’m not wearing this.” It was as showy as the polka dotted swimsuits of Matthew’s that Eddy, Ed, and he wore to Nazz’s pool party one year.

“Why not?” Matthew chuckled at his reaction to the underwear.

“It’s gaudy and looks uncomfortable!” Edd spat, exasperated.

“That’s too bad. Pipsqueak only gave me one pair of your underwear and that’s the only pair of mine that I knew would fit your scrawny ass. You don’t seem like the type to wear the same type of underwear to bed that you wore all day.”

“Quite observant of you,” Edd responded dully, “Where is my underwear?”

Matthew pulled the plain black boxers out of his back pocket. The way that he did it oddly reminded Edd of a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. “Damn, Princess! You such boring tastes in underwear.” 

“Go put it back with my wardrobe for tomorrow!” Edd shrieked.

“Calm down, Princess,” Matthew grinned, “so you’re actually going to wear the underwear?”

“Does it look like I have a choice?” Edd gently pushed Matthew out of the bathroom. He shut and locked the door behind him, 

“Shoo Matthew, I have to get changed.” Edd quickly changed into the underwear that only someone as flamboyant as Eddy or Matthew could wear. He put on his pajama shirt and pants, thankful that no one would have to see it on him. He then followed his usual routine of brushing his teeth and washing his face for the evening. 

He headed into Matthew’s room once he was dressed for bed. His boxers that Matthew taunted him over were sitting on top of his clothes for tomorrow. Matthew was already lying down on the waterbed. Edd quietly laid down on the other side of the bed. 

“I suppose you don’t have anything educational to read, do you?” Edd sighed when Matthew shook his head, “Never mind.”

“If you can’t sleep, you can question a few personal questions that I have for you,” Matthew suggested.

“Quid pro quo, Matthew. I’m not telling you anything unless you tell me something in return.” Edd responded stubbornly. Eddy was starting to rub off on him a bit, “I get to ask you the first question though.” 

“Ask away, Sockhead.”

Edd thought for a moment of what to ask the man, “have you been married or engaged?”

“No, I haven’t.” Matthew answered, “I don’t see a point to getting married to some broad or gutless sap of a man that’s just going to act like Dad does in a couple of years and try to change me. Now for my question, have you engaged in any type of sexual activity?”

Edd balked at the question, but wasn’t surprised by it, “No, I haven’t. I’m being completely honest.” Edd thought for a moment about his next question, “What caused you to become estranged from your own father? I mean, I’m aware of the fact that you were kicked out of your own home before you were of legal age, but there had to be some kind of catalyst before that.”

“Well, it just wasn’t one that led me to realize that my dad was a controlling, hypocritical tyrant. It was how he reacted to the several things that I’ve done. He had it in his head that I was a loser from the get-go, but I didn’t find that out until I was nine. Everything I had done after that was more proof in his head that I was worthless. It started with the harmless pranks and scams I performed as a kid. Then I had gotten into alcohol and cigarettes before I attended junior high. Teachers called my house at all hours of the day regarding times I was caught smoking or drinking on school property, whenever I gotten bad grades, or when I beat up someone in school. In junior high and high school, it had gotten worse. That was when I started sleeping around and experimenting with hardcore drugs. My so-called bad behavior lead to the big fight Dad and I had and he kicked me out of the house.” Edd had no idea what say about what was revealed to him. Matthew could’ve been rehabilitated if his parents had nipped his bad behavior in the bud before it had progressed. However, he was not a parent and didn’t know Eddy and Matthew’s dad’s side of the story. Matthew just wanted someone to listen and that’s what Edd was going to do, “So, Sockhead. What are your family issues besides the fact that they’re missing?”

Inhaling sharply, Edd knew that he had to be perfectly honest with the man, since Matthew seemed to not hold anything back from him. Edd revealed to him about how his parents were too busy with their careers to spend any time with him and how he had only seen his parents a few times a month before they went missing. He told him about the endless sticky note tasks he had to do growing up. How the two people that he seen the most of throughout all of his life had been Ed and Eddy. He also went into detail about how he had met Ed and Eddy for the first time when they scammed him with the “bottomless Ed” scam. “I hate to break it to you, Girlfriend, but I doubt your parents really gave a shit about you. They could’ve found a way to make time for you, but they didn’t.” Matthew stated.

“You take that back! My parents do care about me! Why would you even say something so horrid?” Edd snapped, feeling offended by Matthew’s cruel words.

“Look, it’s up to you if you want to live in denial over your parents, but I was just tellin’ you what I think about the situation.” 

“I don’t want to discuss this with you anymore.” Edd replied curtly. He did not speak to the man for the rest of the evening. He woke up just before sunrise, pleasantly surprised that Matthew did not try to grope on him in his sleep. As Edd completed his morning routine, he thought about how to make peace with Eddy. Edd strolled down the Cul De Sac, thankful that he was back to wearing his own underwear. Lycra underwear was just so uncomfortable. Matthew’s words swarm in his head like angry bees. What if his parents really didn’t care about him? If they ever got found, the only things that would’ve changed would be that he would be living at his house again doing endless chores for them. 

He made a couple of stops to the Candy Store and AKA Shoes on Main Street. With his purchases in hand, he walked back to the house. The Cul De Sac was quiet during the early hours. Not even some of the elderly neighbors were up yet. He wondered if it was too early to try to discuss things with Eddy. There was only way to find out. He knocked on the outside door of Eddy’s room and waited for Eddy to answer the door. He was going to try his damnedest to make things right with Eddy.


	10. The McGee Girls

Edd knocked on the door again. He heard movement in Eddy’s room. It sounded like Eddy was hopping out of bed and getting dressed. Every minute felt like an hour had passed. Edd wondered if he should turn around and go inside of the house. He knew that he was about to face whatever mood Eddy was in. 

Eddy was the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve. If Eddy was in a foul mood, it became obvious to anyone within a four block radius that he was. If Eddy was excited about something, the whole neighborhood knew about it too. Eddy was extremely melodramatic and always had been. The only times that Eddy seemed to have any control over his emotions or was able to adequately mask his own emotions is if he was trying to scam someone. Even then there was a limit to how much Eddy could keep calm. 

The door started to open. Edd felt like he was going to have a heart attack. He dared himself to face Eddy. The blue-haired teen didn’t look so good. His dark eyes were completely glassy and bloodshot. His spiky dark navy hair clung to his sweaty forehead. Eddy reeked of alcohol. Edd’s heart panged with guilt at seeing his friend like that. “I brought you a fresh pack of socks and a couple of jawbreakers.”

“Double D, it’s 7 am in the morning.” Eddy looked irritated. He was still upset at Edd for the day before, “just hurry up and get inside.”

Edd hurried inside to see the room destroyed. Dirty magazines were scattered at various parts of the room. Balled up tissues sat next to the magazines on the ground. He knew about Eddy’s masturbation habits since they were around ten years old. So it wasn’t that much of a surprise that Eddy would’ve touched himself when the doors were locked all night. The familiar vodka bottle stood right next to magazines and tissues. He didn’t know if Eddy brought the bottle in himself or if Matthew brought it in for him. All he knew was that the alcohol bottle was now empty.

“Eddy, you need watch your alcohol intake. You’re damaging your liver by consuming that much,” Edd sat his gifts to Eddy on top of Eddy’s dresser. 

“Look if you’re just going to nag at me, you can just get the fuck out!” Eddy snapped. 

“I didn’t come here to find faults with how you spend your time,” Edd sat down on the bed, “I came here to try to make amends.”

“Why? It’s pretty damn obvious that neither Ed nor you care about me. I mean, what could be so damn important that you would keep from me?” Eddy gripped Edd’s arms none too gently and shook him, “What the hell are you hiding?”

“Eddy, stop! Listen; there are some secrets that are better left unsaid.”

“Bullshit!” Eddy spat.

All of his attempts to pacify Eddy had failed. Edd thought quickly on how he could appease Eddy. He decided to reveal one of his secrets to end the quarrel between him and Eddy, “Alright, I’ll tell you. I’m - I’m a homosexual, Eddy. There, are you content now? I didn’t want to tell you, because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“That’s it? That was all that you’ve been hiding from me?” Eddy stopped shaking him, “Geez Double D, you could’ve told before. I don’t care that you’re gay.”

“Really? Thank you, Eddy,” Edd smiled.

“Whatever,” Eddy shrugged. Eddy was willing to accept that as part of the reason for Edd’s strange behavior, but he was not completely satisfied with his answer. There had to be more to the story. He didn’t know what, but there was something that he couldn’t put his finger on. He knew both Edd and Ed like he knew the back of his hand. He would forgive Edd for now, but he still is going to try to keep an eye on him.

“I have good news though,” Edd replied before they both heard Eddy’s brother’s Camaro started up in the driveway. 

“Where’s Matthew heading off to?” Eddy asked, listening to the car drive away.

“I believe he’s going to pick up your nieces,” Edd replied.

“Was that the news that you were trying to tell me?” Eddy asked.

“Yeah, it was.” Edd answered.

“I can hardly wait. With my great teaching methods, they would be the second best scammers to hit the Cul de Sac!” Eddy boasted.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for when your nieces arrive?” Edd suggested. He knew that smelling like alcohol would not have made a good impression on three kids.

“You’re right. I need to show them how much of a cool uncle I can be!” Eddy quickly dashed into his personal bathroom to get ready. 15 minutes later, Eddy walked out of bathroom stark nude and completely soaked from his shower. Edd once again was unwillingly placed in a situation where he had to wrestle with his own hormones. He tried banish the thoughts from his head, but they came back twice as strong. He wanted Eddy to shove him on the bed and ravish him. He wanted to feel his friend’s bare skin against his own. He turned his head, clearing his head from any impure thoughts before his desire became apparent. Eddy put on a plain white shirt, a leather jacket, dark jeans, and silver necklace. “Do I look like a cool uncle or what?”

“You look fine,” Edd responded, “I doubt your nieces are going to care much about your appearance.”

“First impressions are everything, Double D!” Eddy stated, applying deodorant to his underarms. “How are they supposed to take me seriously if I don’t look the part?”

“Instead of spending all of your time with them trying to teach three children how to perform scams; why don’t you do more meaningful things with them? Why don’t you teach them more about the family? They’re probably dying to know what the paternal side of their family is like. You can also teach them about their heritage. You can also find out about their personalities.” Edd suggested enthusiastically.

“Yeah, I guess I work those in,” Eddy shrugged. 

“Uh, Eddy. What is your ethnicity?” Edd asked.

“I’m English, Irish, and Italian, mostly Italian though.” Eddy replied. “What about you, Sockhead?”

“Well, my mother was French-Canadian before she immigrated to the US when she was a child and my father has Austrian and Sicilian ancestry.” Matthew’s words about his parents reappeared in his own thoughts, “Eddy, do you think that my parents were horrible parents?”

“Eh,” Eddy didn’t know how to answer that question, “They were hardly around. I only have seen them like five times since I’ve known ya. The only thing that I really knew about them was the sticky notes they’ve left all over your house. Why did you ask that anyway?”

“I honestly have no clue why I did,” Edd lied. Eddy’s words brought him no comfort. He was starting to believe that Matthew could be right. The only protection from the outside world that his parents offered him was a roof over his head and hundreds of rules and chores that they had in place. He began to silently count the numerous rules he had broken since Matthew moved in. He consumed alcohol before his 21st birthday. He watched Rated R movies with Eddy even before Matthew moved in. He didn’t report a crime when he knew that one had occurred in the case of Matthew’s reckless driving. How could he when he was living under the same roof as the man and was under the man’s control until Eddy’s parents returned? Perhaps the worst one in his parent’s eyes was that he willingly engaged in activities with Matthew that his parents would’ve disapproved of. What did all of that say about him as a person? 

“What’s wrong, Sockhead?” Eddy waved a hand in front of Edd’s face.

“Nothing Eddy, I was just thinking about stuff,” Edd replied.

“Okay,” Eddy turned when he heard his door opened. 

“My little ankle-biters are here. I have a few places to be, so you two are in charge of them until I get back. If you two do good job, you’ll get a reward later,” Matthew explained briefly, closing the door.

Eddy quickly pulled him across the house, looking for his nieces. Edd was fuming over Matthew just pawning his kids off on them. How irresponsible could that man be? As much as the man’s actions infuriated him, he wouldn’t let it show. Eddy was too excited to see his nieces to let anything put a damper on his excitement, not even his brother’s actions. 

When they headed into the living room, they saw three little girls looking around the living room. The three girls were conversing with each other, trying to solve the reason why they were there. Two of the children, the three year old and one of the five years, looked like the rest of the McGee family members or at least of the ones that Edd had seen before. The other five year old looked like she mostly took after her mother. All three of them had dark eyes like Matthew, Eddy, and their father. These kids were obviously Matthew’s.

The brunette five year old spoke up, looking at the other two, “What are you two doing here? Is daddy throwing a party for me here?”

“No. If there was a party, where are the balloons?” The other five year old asked, twirling her dark blond hair, “I thought we were going to go to that Mondo carnival-thing again. Why did daddy drop us here?”

“That man can’t be your daddy!” The brunette yelled, “That’s my real daddy! Mom told me so!”

“That’s not a funny joke, you know,” The dark blonde yelled, crossing her arms.

“Wait,” Eddy finally spoke up, “you three don’t even know that you’re sisters?”

“Sisters?” The two five years stared at Eddy like he had grown an extra head. “That’s not possible!”

Eddy sighed, “Let’s start off slow. What are your names? First and last names.”

“Bonnie McGee,” The blonde answered.

“My name is Dani McGee,” The brunette five year old answered. She turned to the three year old, “I better check her toy bag.” 

“The three year old doesn’t speak?” Eddy asked.

“No. I don’t think she knows how,” Dani answered, digging into the bag. “Her name is Edna McGee. How could it be true? We have different moms – and I wasn’t told.” Dani added quietly 

“It’s true, Dani. In fact, I know of three girls my age who each have a different father,” Edd finally spoke. He didn’t know what to say to the three girls. He couldn’t believe that Matthew never introduced the three girls to each other and/or never introduced them as siblings. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you three meet?”

From what Edd could understand from the two girls’ sides of the story, all three of them met at Mondo A-Go Go three times before during what might have been Matthew’s visitation days. They arrived at the carnival at different times and only spent a few minutes with Matthew at the most. Matthew would have another carnival worker watch the kids while he did whatever. The girls have seen Matthew take the other girls to the other carnival worker, picked them up individually when it was time to leave, and heard from each other that they were each related to one of the carnies that worked there. However, they didn’t put two and two together, explaining their confusion over being half-siblings. In fact, Dani and Bonnie both falsely believed that the carnie that watched over them was the other girl’s father. The three girls did get a chance to bond – as friends- at the carnival. The carnival let them ride the rides, play games, and consume fresh corndogs and cotton candy while they were there. The two girls described the three times that they visited Mondo A-Go Go with as much enthusiasm as they would have if they won the lottery. Edd supposed that for any kid, that would be a wonderful experience. It also seemed like the girls were not physically abused by Matthew, but it could be due to him not wanting to pay child support. Edd was certain that if the girls were placed in his custody or if the family court system wasn’t watching Matthew closely, they would’ve been abused like Eddy had been. 

“So who are you two?” Bonnie asked the two teens.

“You don’t know who I am? You can’t recognize the most awesome, good-looking, and coolest uncle that you’ll ever have?” Eddy boasted, faking offense to her question, “Yep, I’m your Uncle Eddy. No, really. Your dad and I are bros. The guy next to me is Double D. He’s a friend of mine.”

“Why does he wear a sock on his head?” Edd’s face fell when he heard that question from one of the girls. The three girls were giggling. The mute 3 year old was either selectively mute or didn’t learn how to talk yet, because Edd could hear her giggle along with her two sisters. 

Eddy chuckled, “that’s a story for another day. For now, I’m going to show you pictures of the rest of family.” The girls followed him into the hallway. Edd got over his shock over that question and followed behind the girls. Eddy grabbed one of the pictures from the wall and showed the three girls. “This is your grandma. She doesn’t know about you three yet, but she would throw a fit over you guys. She would be trying to doll you three up and buy you new outfits.”

“When can we meet her?” Dani asked.

“You can once she and dad get back. They’re on a road trip at the moment.” Eddy replied, putting the picture back and grabbing another one, “this is your granddad. He might be grump, but he’s alright. Just don’t tell your dad I said that.” Eddy puts the framed picture back and grabs another one. “And this is your great-granddad. He’s in a nursing home and I wouldn’t let him drive you guys anywhere.” Eddy shuddered at all of the memories he had of his granddad running past stop signs and getting in near-collisions with other cars.

“So which one has the most quarters?” Bonnie asked, “One of them has to have money to get us each Pop Rocks?”

“That’s not a question that you should be asking!” Edd scolded her.

Eddy covered Double D’s mouth, “what are you talking about Double D? These three are little entrepreneurs. They just don’t know where they could earn an honest quarter.” He turned to the girls, “you can earn quite a bit of money from scamming people. You just need supplies and a great idea. In fact,” Eddy started whispering a plan to the starry-eyed girls, who drank in the information. 

“I suppose money obsession is genetic in the McGee family,” Edd mumbled, remembering the story on how Eddy’s ancestor lost ownership of Peach Creek in the first place.

*******************

The girls sat behind a stand that read “Hot Sauce Challenge: 25 cents.” Edd was the one that reluctantly designed the sign for the girls. He wanted to spare the girls the years of ridicule that Eddy, Ed, and he experienced that was partially was the result from them creating numerous scans. The girls waited impatiently for a “sucker” while they sat beside their father’s homemade hot sauce bottle. Three plastic cups that sat on the stand were filled with the hot sauce. Eddy and Edd sat on a couple of lawn chairs in the middle of the yard to keep an eye on the girls.

Kevin and Nazz started to walk past Eddy’s house when they spotted the stand. Nazz had learned how to walk with crutches with ease in the past few days. Nazz read the sign aloud, “Hot sauce challenge, only a quarter? I think I’ll pass!”

“What are you three twerps up to?” Kevin asked them, suspiciously. After all of the years of dealing with Ed, Edd, and Eddy’s scams, he had grown suspicious of any homemade signs and stands in the Cul de Sac.

“Nothing, we’re just trying to run a business. You’re just too chicken to try it!” Bonnie taunted. 

“You little dorkette, my family vacationed in Mexico and I’ve ate actual hot peppers that is much hotter than what your parents bought at the store.” Kevin argued.

“It’s my dad’s secret recipe, smarty pants!” Bonnie retorted.

“Kev, why don’t you humor them?” Nazz suggested, “They’re just kids!”

“Ugh, fine!” Kevin put a quarter on the stand and took one of the plastic cups. The quarter was quickly snatched up by Dani and put in a jar next to the hot sauce. Kevin inspected the cup. It looked like regular hot sauce to him. He gulped down the hot sauce and quickly realized his mistake. It felt like he drunk down fire and he made a desperate grab for Nazz’s water bottle. “I’m sorry, Nazz!” He quickly gulped down the water. He turned towards the three giggling girls that sold him the liquid fire, “that was dirty trick, you little dorkettes!”

“Hey, Shovel Chin! The point of the challenge is not to cry about drinking the hot sauce afterward!” Eddy cackled at the sight. He turned to Edd, who was snoozing on the lawn chair.

“I suppose these three belong to you?” Kevin folded his arms. 

“Sort of, they’re my nieces,” Eddy replied with pride.

Kevin’s grew pale when he heard the word “nieces.” They were the spawn of that bastard in Eddy’s house. One word to their daddy from them about how he yelled at them and he might as well start writing his own will. Kevin did not want to become a victim to Eddy’s brother’s wrath again. That man didn’t even look for a reason to physically harm someone, other than they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Nazz elbowed him playfully, “relax, Kevin! It was just a hot sauce challenge. I’m sure they meant no harm.”

“Right.” Kevin rubbed the back of his neck and faced the girls, “keep the change.”

The three girls ran to Eddy excitedly and hugged his knees while he patted them each on top of their heads. “Uncle Eddy! We made our first quarter!” Dani got out the quarter and waved it in front of Eddy’s face, looking for the teen’s approval at what they had done.

“That’s nice, girls!” Eddy replied, “hey, c’mon! Let go of my legs already!”

Edd slowly started to wake up from his nap and watched as the three girls wouldn’t let Eddy’s legs go. Edd couldn’t help but smile at the scene. Eddy had a nurturing side. Edd had seen that side of Eddy quite a few times in the past, once when Eddy was teaching Jimmy how to be like him. He also remembered how motherly Eddy became when he touched a boomerang once when they were kids. Edd started to wonder if the boomerang actually had them acting out their repressed personalities rather than their opposite personalities as they had originally believed. 

“Help, Double D! They’re attacking me!” Eddy struggled to walk with all three girls hugging his legs.

“Carry us around, Uncle Eddy!” Dani squealed with laughter.

“Not a chance, Eddy.” Edd replied, “This is too much of a touching moment!” 

“You sadist!” Eddy mumbled.

Kevin and Nazz watched the scene, “It’s really sweet. Don’t you think so, Kevin?”

“Yeah, it’s so sweet that I’m about to heave!” Kevin replied dully.

“C’mon Kevin,” Nazz teasingly poked Kevin’s chest, “I think you would be really great with kids too. Anyway, I need to head home before my mom starts to fix lunch without me. Catch ya later, Kev!”

Kevin waved, his face getting as red as his hat. He walked a short distance to his house mumbling, “Why does she say weird things like that to me? I just don’t get her. Maybe I should just tell her how I feel.”

Three hours have passed of Eddy getting chased around by his nieces in the yard. Eddy lost most of his energy after an hour of being chased and wobbled around during the next two. Edd guessed it to be around lunchtime. He should start fixing lunch for Eddy and the girls soon. He was still ticked that Matthew left the house, but there was nothing that he could have done about it. Like clockwork, the man pulled into the driveway after being gone for several hours. `Well speak of the devil,’ Edd thought to himself.


	11. The McGee Girls, Part Two

It seemed that any of Matthew’s interactions with Eddy or his limited interactions with his own children was like a game of chess. They were pawns to Matthew’s own selfishness. The girls were naïve to Matthew’s manipulative nature and Eddy was selectively blind to his own brother’s manipulation of him. Edd felt his blood boil just thinking about how someone can even feel that way about their own blood relatives, especially about three little girls that shared half of his DNA.

Edd had to get away from the scene before he did something completely irrational and out of character. He decided to make sandwiches for Eddy, the girls, and Matthew. It was something quick and easy. He was so exhausted. It felt like he has not slept at all even though he slept for most of the night. Maybe a quick read would help keep him awake after he prepared lunch.

He heard footsteps approach him. He hoped that it was Eddy or the girls being impatient over food. He turned to find Matthew standing by the door. He turned back to his task. Confronting the man would be foolish. Especially since Eddy was having a wonderful time with his nieces. “Lunch will be done in just a second. I just have to cut the sandwiches.” Edd replied. 

He almost sliced his hand open when he felt Matthew press up against him. He felt every curve of the man’s torso against his back. The man’s crotch was pressed against his bottom. Edd panicked, wondering what Matthew was trying to do. To his embarrassment, his cock started to become erect. His hormones would not quit torturing him. He saw the 24 year old’s hand reach over him to grab a couple of sandwiches. Once he had gotten the sandwiches he wanted, Matthew leaned against the island across from the counter Edd was working at, inspected the inside of the sandwich, and took a bite out of it. 

Edd whipped himself around and pointed at Matthew, “You could have waited.”

“I was hungry,” Matthew shrugged. He grinned impishly at the teen, “It looks like you’re getting a bit excited there. I suppose we can be quick. Just drop your pants and head into the kitchen closet. If not, Pipsqueak or the ankle-biters would catch you like that.”

“Have you gone mad?” Edd hissed, trying to cover himself with the front of his shirt, “I would rather they catch me in my current state than catch me in a broom closet with you! You can banish that lust-filled, half-baked idea of yours out of your deranged mind immediately!”

“If you say so. Well, it’s time to call everyone for lunch since you would rather have them see you with a boner,” Matthew acted like he was about to call them into the kitchen with them.

“Wait!” Edd panicked. Sure Eddy would only laugh at him and joke about him getting sexually aroused over the thought of cleaning and doing chores, but Eddy’s nieces would not understand what was happening to him. Edd didn’t even want to imagine the mess that it would’ve led to. He clenched the man’s shirt desperately, “L-listen, I’ll do what you want. I don’t have much money on me, but I can tidy up your room. Just help me out of this humiliating situation!”

“I don’t want your money or anything cleaned,” Matthew smirked at him as he roughly cupped the younger male’s crotch, causing Edd whimper, “I want you, end of story. Come to my room after Pipsqueak goes to sleep. You have a choice not to go through with it if you believe that Eddy would understand your own perverted thoughts, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

`Dear Lord, what kind of trap did I put myself into?’ Edd fretted. He instantly regretted his words, wishing that he could take them back without having one of his secrets revealed. He and Eddy were under Matthew’s control even when the man was not around. Anything that Edd did, Matthew turned around on him like a twisted game of chess. Unlike Eddy, Edd was not completely blind to what the man was capable of. However, that was nothing to be proud of. Matthew still used his secrets and his physical attraction towards the man to toy with him.

Matthew made sure to help him get rid of his erection alright. The man pinned him down and poured half a bag of ice down the front of his pants. While the ice did help relieve his problem, he was left was another mortifying problem; he had cold ice cubes in his pants. He violently shook his pant legs, trying to remove the ice cubes from his pants. Then Eddy burst into the kitchen, wondering why Edd was screaming like he had gotten murdered and ended up the next victim of Matthew’s devious pranks.

Edd and Eddy dashed into Eddy’s personal bathroom. The top of Eddy’s head looked like a strange fruit hat. Whipped cream was smearing into Eddy’s scalp. Pickles, green olives, and watermelon were entangled in Eddy’s spiky hair. Shivering, Edd scooped a handful of ice from his pants and tossed them into the shower stall. As Eddy scrubbed his hair in the sink, he called his brother every insult in the English language under his breath. Edd considered chastising Eddy for his foul language, but knew from experience that it wouldn’t have done any good, especially if Eddy was pissed. 

After they were done, it was time to check on the girls. The state of Eddy’s living room was a disaster. They were in the bathroom for only five minutes and Eddy’s nieces had completely trashed the room. The table was turned over as if it was used as a shield. Cups of fruit punch were turned over, sandwich crusts were in the floor, one of Eddy’s mother’s vases was broken, Eddy’s nieces were squabbling over the remote to the TV, and Matthew was nowhere in sight. Edd was amazed how much of a mess three children can make in just a short amount of time.

“That’s enough!” Edd yelled, trying to separate the girls from one another, “you three should be ashamed of yourselves! Your mothers didn’t send you here to act ill-mannered!”

“Huh?” Bonnie asked as she was pulled off of her sisters.

“You three destroyed the living room!” Eddy yelled pointing at the couch, “Go sit on the couch or I’m not taking you three to the candy store later! Now Double D has to clean up the mess you three created.”

“Oh sure! Leave me to take care of mess!” Edd replied sarcastically.

Eddy shrugged, putting Bonnie on the couch, “you’re used to picking up after other people anyway!”

“Don’t toy with me, Eddy,” Edd huffed as he went into the kitchen to get cleaning supplies. 

The girls were not content with the punishment for their misbehavior. The petulant children cried, kicked their feet, and attempt to escape from the coach. Typical behavior of the average child, Edd supposed. Thankfully Eddy’s mother had some vinegar in the pantry. Eddy sat on the chair and watched the girls like a watchdog – or an actual father figure. Edd had to admire how mature Eddy can be on rare occasions. 

Edd noticed Ed entering into the house from the front door. “Ed! You’re tracking mud. Messy, messy.”

“Hey, Lumpy. Don’t you know how to knock on the door?” Eddy asked.

Ed looked around and grinned, “Sure am, Eddy!” Ed turned to the three girls on the couch, “I would like three boxes of tag-a-longs please!” The girls looked as confused as Ed was. The girls were currently giving everyone the silent treatment in an act of immature silent rebellion and tuned everyone out. Ed asked them another question, “Do you not have tag-a-longs?”

“They’re not girl scouts, Ed!” Eddy snickered.

“They’re not?” Ed looked at the girls again in confusion, “hey Eddy! Why do you have three little girls at your house?”

“Gee Ed, can’t you tell the resemblance between them and yours truly?” Eddy asked.

Ed looked between Eddy and the girls, “Cool! Eddy had babies like that guy in that one movie where a mad scientist experimented on a man and got him pregnant! Your girls look as cute and cuddly as my sponge collection and have your eyes!”

“Gee Ed, I wonder what goes through your head sometimes,” Eddy muttered deadpanned. 

“Ed, I too ponder the extent that TV and comic books have rotted your brain for you to consider that as a logical explanation for the girls,” Edd said, finishing up cleaning the living room.

“So who is the daddy?” Ed asked.

“My bro is their dad!” Eddy exclaimed, hoping that Ed would finally figure it out.

“Isn’t that illegal?” Ed asked.

Eddy made a face, “What the hell, Ed! The girls are my nieces. My brother knocked up three women and created them. Understand now, birdbrain?”

Ed nodded his head, “Can I hug them?”

Ed crushed the three girls in a tight hug before Eddy could tell Ed that the girls were in timeout. The girls struggled between the odor coming from Ed’s body and the tight affectionate grip they were in. Edd could hear them complaining about the smell of Ed’s underarm. 

“Hey Ed, I think the girls have smelled enough of your skunk pits for one day,” Eddy stated. 

“Really?” Edd was surprised that Ed was careful to sit the girls down gently. Then again, Ed had a little sister and knew from experience that little children could break bones easily. Ed’s mind was a complete mystery. There was no way of telling what Ed understood and what he didn’t. He was the type of person that can surprise people with a rare moment of insight and then go back to doing or talking about nonsensical things. 

“Hey kids, would you like to meet Sheldon?” Ed pulled out a rancid piece of cheese from his pocket. Edd lost count of how many Sheldons Ed has had throughout the years, all he knew was that each Sheldon had smelled as foul as the rest of them. Even the smell of Sheldon from 10 feet away was enough to make Edd gag. Ed would not have gone through so many Sheldons if Eddy and Edd have not been covertly disposing of Ed’s previous rotten cheeses and telling Ed a little white lie about the Sheldons moving to France.

“Eww, it stinks worst than he does!” Dani exclaimed. The girls shrieked and ran to go hide away from the rotten cheese. 

“Little girls are so weird!” Ed proclaimed. 

“Put Sheldon away, Ed.” Edd chided. “Someone could really become severely ill from smelling him and you could lose him.” Edd added in the last part, hoping that Ed listen to him.

Ed nodded and did as he was asked. He cooed at the piece of cheese as if it was an infant, “ah! The little guy looks tired! Nighty night Sheldon!”

Bonnie, Dani, and Edna reluctantly came back into the living room once Eddy informed them that Sheldon was gone. With the girls’ timeout completely forgotten, the Eds tried to figure out how to keep the girls preoccupied until their mothers shown up. Ed, of course, came up with some strange impractical ideas that probably came from some B-rated horror movie that he watched. Edd and Eddy pretended to take Ed’s suggestion into consideration to spare Ed’s feelings. Edd suggested that the girls should play some board games to help increase the girls’ intelligence. Eddy quickly dismissed Edd’s idea as “boring.” Eddy popped in a movie for the girls, plopping down on the chair after the movie was in.

“Really Eddy?” Edd folded his arms.

“What? Can’t I have some rest before their moms show up?” Eddy asked.

“Sure,” Eddy did seem like he needed his rest. “Is there something you need anything, Eddy?”

“There is,” Eddy tapped Bonnie on the shoulder, “hey, Double D is going to head to the candy store to buy you pop rocks. Where’s that quarter you earned?”

Bonnie pulled the coin from her pocket, “here it is, Uncle Eddy!”

Edd was handed the coin, “I’ll return in 15 minutes.” 

Edd left the house a bit after the movie started. Eddy put in the Disney movie Jungle Book for the girls. While it was not a bad choice for a movie for the girls to watch at their leisure, the movie hardly stayed true to its source. Yet again, this was nothing rare when it came to Disney movies. Edd made his second trip to the candy store that day. The price of pop rocks had jumped up since he was a kid. Pop rocks used to cost 5 cents and now they cost 8 cents. In a couple of years or so, a quarter wouldn’t be able cover the cost of Pop rocks for all three of them. 

Edd returned to the house with the candy. The girls instantly tore open the candy wrappers and inhaled the candy inside. Seeing the pop rocks reminded of Edd of the time when Ed, Eddy and him wanted to test out the infamous urban legend about pop rocks and soda back when they were nine years old. Eddy heard about the urban legend from Matthew and wanted to use the myth as a scam. He had chosen Jimmy to be the guinea pig of that experiment and tied the boy to a tree, forcing him to ingest gallons of soda and pop rocks, which they gotten from Jonny in exchange for granola. The only result from the experiment was that Jimmy had gotten a stomach ache from drinking so much soda. The myth was debunked. The other thing they learned from the experiment was that Sarah could throw someone like an Olympic javelin thrower when she had found out what the Eds had done.

Edd sat down and decided to watch the rest of the movie with them. The movie was playing the scene between Kaa and Mowgli in the tree where Kaa tries to manipulate Mowgli into trusting him in order for the boy to become the python’s next lunch. Even though the snake in the movie was portrayed as a bumbling comic relief, it was still portrayed as being very cunning. 

“Hey Eddy, what happened to the snake in your brother’s room?” Ed asked

“Mom found it and threw it outside when we were twelve. She hates snakes,” Eddy replied.

“The snake would’ve expired within the year anyway. Matthew never bought a heat lamp for it and unlike mammals; snakes can’t produce the body heat necessary to protect them from getting hypothermia during the colder seasons.” Edd explained. 

The girls’ mothers had shown up to the house at different times during the hour. Matthew had arrived in the living room before the girls’ mothers have shown up. The only thing Edd could say about the mothers was that they were friendly, judging how the women interacted with them and the girls, and they definitely came from the city, judging from their appearance. Bonnie’s nineteen year old mother especially was scantily clad in a bikini top, short blue jean shorts, a pair of sandals, and a lip ring. The girls were all excitedly asking their mothers when they could visit again while the mothers were chatting up Matthew and Eddy to see if the girls have behaved themselves.

When Eddy’s nieces and their mothers had left, Eddy had received his payment for watching the girls in a paper bag. Ed and Edd sat on Eddy’s bed, waiting to see what Eddy had gotten from Matthew. Edd had a terrible feeling regarding whatever was in the bag and looked away.

“This is what I’m talking about, boys,” Eddy yelled several seconds later. “We’ve hit the motherlode!”

“Cool! That looks like the stuff my dad smokes when he gets home from work,” Ed remarked.

Curiosity got the better of Edd and he dared to look at what Eddy had received. It was a Ziploc bag that was halfway filled with marijuana. “Good lord!” Edd exclaimed as he already felt a migraine coming along. 

A/N: I own none of the pop culture references that are made in this fanfic.


	12. Abstinence

“Eddy, I beg of you, please dispose of that!” Edd pleaded with his friend, “Just by possessing that, you’re breaking the law!”

“Relax, Sockhead,” Eddy replied, “we’re not going to be in possession of it for very long.”

“Dare I ask why that is,” Folding his arm, Edd eyed his longtime friend suspiciously.

“Get a clue, Double D! All three of us are going to smoke this baby up,” Eddy patted Edd on the cheek, pleading at him with those dark eyes that Edd feel in love with throughout the years.

Edd held his ground, “absolutely not! I will not partake in destroying my brain development. Thank you very much! Cannabis use can lead to detrimental physiological and psychological side effects.”

Eddy nodded uninterested as Edd explained all of the side effects from marijuana use, “Blah, blah, it could affect my and what little memory and concentration Ed has left. Honestly Sockhead, what is one bag of marijuana going to do to us?” Eddy turned to Ed, “can you understand a word Double D said?”

“Double D was giving us the test answers for next year’s homework?” Ed asked.

Eddy chuckled, “no Ed. He would rather stay here and read his science books than smoke weed with us!” 

“But we have always done stuff together,” Ed sniffled. 

Eddy patted Ed on the back and replied in mock hurt, “he thinks we’re a bad influence on him! Doesn’t it just break your heart, big guy?” Ed sniffled into Eddy’s shirt. Ed looked up at Edd with puppy dog eyes and pouted his lower lip at him.

“Ed, you can’t possibly assume I’m the bad guy in this. I’m only looking out for Eddy’s and your health.” He also didn’t trust Matthew’s intentions of giving Eddy a half a bag of pot, but he wasn’t going to voice his concern over that issue.

“But you won’t be there when I get a boo-boo!” Ed blubbered.

“How can you say that, Ed? I’ll always be there for you and Eddy.” Edd sighed in defeat. It didn’t take much for Edd to give in to Eddy’s demands, especially when Ed was involved. Each one of them was lost without the other. Ed would cry a river if he believed that his friends were disappointed in him. Eddy would drink himself into a stupor, judging from Eddy’s actions the night before. Edd would do anything to try to keep the group together, even if it meant sacrificing his own good health to do so. “Look, you two. You need drug paraphernalia. ”

“Shit,” Eddy cursed, “where the hell am I get a bowl or a bong? Matthew is not going to lend his to us.”

“Well, I guess you’re just going to return this hazardous plant back to your brother,” Edd stated. 

“Don’t sound so excited there, Nixon! I know just the guy who has one,” Eddy replied.

“Drats,” Edd muttered.

~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~~*~*~*

The purple retro van parked outside of the playground. After the kids in the cul-de-sac grown up, the playground was mostly used as the occasional hangout place for teenagers to sit on the playground equipment and smoke, chat with each other, or to just to relax after a hard day. Since Matthew’s reckless driving incident, the playground equipment was out of commission until the city rebuilds it – if they decide to. The youngest residents in the cul-de-sac are Sarah and Jimmy and they were both twelve. Whether or not the city decided to rebuild the playground was yet to be seen. 

Eddy walked through the rubble of broken playground equipment towards the trees while Edd and Ed watched him from the van. Eddy waited by the tree and began counting down with his fingers. Once he was done, Jonny fell out of the tree with a broken branch stuck to his head. Plank fell out of the tree a second after Jonny did. Jonny still carried around and talked to Plank. Some ingrained habits were just hard to break for some people. 

Jonny pulled off the branch that had a vice grip on his skull and rubbed his head, “Geez Plank, you would think that some of these branches would be sturdy enough for us to nap in.” He listened to the inanimate object, “what you mean I’m getting too heavy to be climbing trees?”

“Hey Jonny boy!” Eddy greeted as Jonny lifted himself up and pulled a twig out of his wild hair.

“Hey Eddy,” Jonny greeted back, “how have you been?”

“I’ve been alright,” Eddy shrugged, “listen, I need to ask you a favor.”

“What kind of favor?” Jonny asked.

“Follow me back to the van and we can talk there,” Eddy headed back to the van with Jonny trailing behind him. Eddy opened the back door of the van for Jonny to crawl into the back and shut the door behind him. Jonny looked from Ed to Edd nervously. Edd always had the impression that Jonny either suffered from social phobia or low self-confidence and the scene before him was enough proof of that. Edd and Ed greeted Jonny. That seemed to put Jonny more at ease inside of the van.

“There’s nothing to worry about, Jonny. Eddy just wants to ask to borrow something from you.” Edd stated to soothe the anxious teen. He was a bit nervous himself. To ask someone that they’ve known for years for drug paraphernalia was audacious even for Eddy. Eddy climbed into the driver’s side several seconds later. 

“You gotta like your van, Eddy,” Jonny complimented.

“It was just something I remodeled with my dad at his car shop. The guys and I hung out in it when it was still in the junkyard” Eddy replied, “so do you still smoke weed?”

Jonny rubbed the back of his neck, “I still smoke it every once in a while, why?”

“I got some weed, but I’ve kinda in a spot,” Eddy explained, “I don’t have anything to smoke it with.”

Jonny listened to Plank before he answered, “I’ve got a bowl in my pocket if the fall didn’t smash it into pieces.” Jonny pulled a tie-dyed marijuana bowl out of his pocket. “It still looks like it’s in one piece.”

“So about lending your bowl to us?” Eddy reached for it, but received a smack on the hand for his effort.

“Not so fast!” Jonny yelled, “Plank says that we’ll loan you the pipe for a trade.”

“A trade? What do I look like?” Eddy muttered to no one in particular.

“I’ll lend you the pipe in exchange for a quarter of the ganja that you’ve got.” Jonny bargained.

“Fine, you can smoke it with us in the junkyard,” Eddy relented. 

“Ah, Eddy,” Edd spoke up. He could not sacrifice his own morals and health just to appease Eddy. Such notion was absurd. He quickly thought of a way to get out of smoking marijuana without upsetting Ed or Eddy. “I’m feeling under the weather. My apologies, Eddy. I’ll have to partake in this kind of illegal activity with you gentlemen some other time.”

“It’s cool, Double D.” Eddy replied, starting up the van, “I can drop you off at the house on the way to the junkyard.”

“Thank you, Eddy. I appreciate it,” Edd’s plan worked better than he had expected. Though he felt guilty for feigning illness just to get out of a situation, he was at least thankful that he would remain abstinent from potentially harmful drugs. 

After Eddy had dropped him off at the house, Edd spent his time reading a used college textbook he gotten at a yard sale a year ago about the different types of illegal drugs, but it only made his fears regarding Ed and Eddy worse. He pretty much gave them permission to smoke pot without him. He debated himself on if he should check on them. His train of thought was interrupted by the door in Eddy’s room opening and closing. 

Edd chose to ignore it. He already knew who came inside of the room. All of the time he fretted over the marijuana, he almost had forgotten about the man’s indecent proposition in the kitchen. He hoped that the man could at least wait until later on and give him a bit more time to think of a way to dodge the issue without getting his secrets exposed. He didn’t want to sleep with the guy. However, Matthew knew the correct buttons to push with him to make him change his mind.

“Looks like we both have the house to ourselves,” Edd could hear the lust dripping out of the man’s voice. Edd’s book was quickly snatched out of his hands, “What’s wrong, Princess? Did your boyfriend leave you here all alone with me?”

Edd looked up at the man, “if you must know, Eddy went to go smoke your little gift without me. I refused to take part in something so unhealthy!”

“I’m not complaining, Sockhead. It just means that we have several hours to get to know each other better, unless you want Pipsqueak to learn about how dirty you really are.” Matthew added huskily. Before Edd could protest, Matthew pushed Edd’s torso into the mattress and crawled on top of him, breathing heavily. 

“Matthew, wait! This is too sudden! This is Eddy’s room! We can’t have sexual relations on Eddy’s bed. Just stop and listen to reason!” Edd protested.

Matthew sunk his teeth into the flesh between his collarbone and his neck, causing Edd to cry out in pain and in masochistic pleasure. The man’s chapped lips and teeth against his tender skin were causing Edd’s brain to become dizzy with pleasure. Matthew lifted his head up to answer the teen below him, “What Pipsqueak doesn’t know won’t kill him. Besides, Pipsqueak is going to expect the same out of you when you become his little housewife or whatever.”

“What makes you so sure?” Edd questioned, defiantly. 

Matthew quickly pointed to the dirty magazines scattered around the room, “Does that answer your question? It’s not so bad, Princess. The only thing you need to do is relax and let yourself experience this, since you’re clearly enjoying yourself. ”

Matthew rubbed his crotch against Edd’s own, causing more of those moans that he liked so much. It took most of his willpower not to rip the scrawny teen’s clothes off and bury himself inside of Edd, fucking him until the teen shouted his name like a wanton whore. He removed both of their shirts. The teen’s shirt was preventing him from seeing Edd in all of his glory. The teen did not have a muscle to him. Matthew took in the sight of the light beige skin before him. He looked down at Edd’s pants and found that the sixteen year old was as hard as he was. Edd was obviously turned on by the sweet friction between both of their bodies. 

Edd felt Matthew kneading on his chest. He let out a soft moan. The man’s rough hands slid against his sensitive skin like leather against silk. His nipples hardened at the man’s rough treatment. The 24 year old smirked down at him, “you seem like you’re really enjoying this. So much for your sweet and innocent act, huh?” 

“Just shut up and continue!” Edd gasped, biting his own lip to prevent himself from moaning loudly. Matthew lowered his head to take one of the dusky nipples into his mouth. He teased the nipple with his tongue. Edd’s moans grew louder and his erection became stiffer. He could tell that the teen was close to having an orgasm. 

Matthew withdrew his mouth and lowered himself down to Edd’s pelvic area. Matthew unbuttoned Edd’s pants and pulled his zipper down. Edd gasped out, “What are you doing?” 

“You’ll see,” Matthew replied, successfully pulling down Edd’s pants, leaving Edd in just his boxers. Lust overpowered any rational thought that Edd had and he let pleasure consume whatever reservations he had regarding the activity. 

His genitals were released from their confines and stood erect underneath Matthew’s chin. Edd tried to hide his erection from the man’s prying eyes, but Matthew held his legs in place. Matthew smirked and greedily took Edd’s erection into his mouth. He hated giving blowjobs, but it was just a means to an end. If he can get Edd to cum for him, it would be a lot easier to get him to do other things. 

He bobbed his head up and down on the shaft. The teen’s cock was an average size, so it was not too challenging to suck him off. By the way Edd’s toes curled his toes and the way he moaned; Matthew knew that Edd could not hold off an orgasm forever. He bobbed his head faster until the teen finally came inside of his mouth. The man gave Edd’s cock a few more sucks before swallowing Edd’s seed. 

Time was an interesting thing. Never would he have imagined that he would have reduced the prepubescent boy that challenged him years ago to a sweaty boneless heap on his younger brother’s bed. There was something exhilarating about the whole idea. He looked the teen in the face. Edd’s cheeks were tinted pink as he slowly came down from his sexual high. “Pretty intense, huh?” Matthew finally spoke up, “so quit looking like I asked you to murder someone for me. You sure as hell didn’t feel guilty about it when you were getting sucked off.”

“I threw away most of my morals within the last hour and had sexual relations with my best friend’s brother on his bed. I’m at least allowed some time feel guilty over it.” Edd mumbled sourly.

“Whatever,” Matthew shrugged, “It’s not like Pipsqueak would know what happened here anyway.”

“I would though,” Edd argued. Even the thought of looking Eddy in the eye after what he allowed to happen was terrifying. It felt like he cheated on Eddy with Matthew, even though the two of them were only friends. 

“Look if you want to beat yourself up over letting me give you a blowjob, that’s on you, but we’re not finished here.”

Edd didn’t have the energy to argue with Matthew anymore. It was obvious that Matthew did whatever he wanted and disregarded how it may affect another person. Edd might as well be explaining the immorality of the situation to a brick wall. “What do you mean by that?”

“I done you a pretty big favor just a minute ago, so it’s time for you to return the favor,” Matthew explained suggestively, laying back against the bed with his arms folded under his head. Edd knew what Matthew wanted him to do.

Edd hesitantly unbutton the man’s pants and pulled down on the zipper. The man’s boxers tented from his erection. Edd caressed the man’s erection, shyly. He was not sure if he was off to a good start. The only person that he ever pleasured before was himself and that didn’t count. He just wanted to get the man off as quickly as possible. The awkwardness of giving Matthew pleasure was unbearable, even if he did consider the man attractive.

Matthew yanked his own boxers down, freeing his erection from its confines. Edd was shocked when he seen what the man had below the beat. He was not the type to feel envious of other guys having a larger penis size than him, but he was still shocked by the fact that Matthew was larger than him by at least three inches. Not only that, but Matthew’s genitals were also completely bare. Edd knew of female porn stars shaving themselves down below regularly, thanks to Eddy and his knowledge of anything involving porn, but he had never heard of guys shaving themselves before. 

“Go ahead, Princess. Put it into your mouth.” Matthew instructed. The raven-haired adolescent took the cock into his hand and stroked it a couple of times. Pre-ejaculate leaked from the tip. Edd grimaced at what he was about to do. He took Matthew’s cock into his mouth. He was only able to get half of the man’s erection into his mouth without gagging. 

Matthew grunted with approval and commanded him to stroke whatever he couldn’t fit into his mouth. Edd couldn’t think of an activity that was as mortifying and unsanitary as what he was doing at the moment. He could keep telling himself that he was doing it to keep his friendship with Eddy intact, but he was not sure that was entirely the case anymore. Edd absolutely loathed the man’s personality. Matthew was a selfish, sociopathic bully. However, that did not stop Edd from being remotely curious about what a physical relationship with Matthew would be like. He continued his pace. He jaw and his wrists were starting to hurt after a few minutes. Inexperience made the task harder to do after minutes have gone by.

He nearly choked when Matthew pushed his head further down. Edd figured that Matthew must have been getting close, because Matthew was breathing erratically as he thrust into Edd’s mouth. Matthew kept a firm hold on Edd’s head as he felt his peak approaching. After a few more thrusts, he released inside of Edd’s mouth. After his climax, Matthew tilted Edd’s chin up, “You were not half bad for a beginner, Princess. Now you just need to swallow it.” 

Edd hesitantly swallowed down the man’s semen, which left a weird aftertaste in his mouth. “There you go,” Matthew purred, “We’ll have to do it again sometime soon.”

“Uh, sure.” Edd didn’t know who he was becoming. After engaging in a sexual act with Matthew, he wasn’t even sure if he was the same person that he once was. He still felt the same way about his friends. He still could explain the anatomy of a queen bee. He still could work on inventions if he had use of his own garage again. He just felt like a dirtier version of himself.


	13. Lies

Guilt weighed heavily on Edd’s conscious. Trying to hide the evidence was his knee-jerk reaction to the current situation. It was ironic that after so many years of patronizing both Ed and Eddy to be more truthful even in dire situations, he was now doing everything he could to cover up what happened. During his shower, he scrubbed every inch of his body in a futile effort to remove any microscopic evidence that he let himself be defiled. After a while, he was just scrubbing his skin red. 

He caught his reflection in the mirror after he had gotten out of the shower. Scrubbing may get rid of any trace of saliva and semen from his body, but it didn’t hide the dark hickey upon the skin in the region of where his trapezius was located. He ran his index finger across it, remembering how much he actually enjoyed receiving it. He could only hope that it would be covered by a shirt. 

After washing his mouth out, he quickly changed into his pajama set and his shoes before tossing his dirty clothes into the hamper. Matthew had already gotten dressed before Edd had gotten into the shower. Edd could care less about what Matthew was doing at that point as long as the man was not harming any of the neighbors. 

He really needed to check up on Ed and Eddy. However, there was still one more task he needed to complete before he could walk over to the junkyard. He stripped Eddy’s bedding and carried it to the washer to start a load. Edd let out a sigh of relief. Eddy probably would not suspect a thing. Edd could pretend that everything was normal for another day. 

The night air caressed his face when he stepped outside. He might look a bit eccentric for walking out of the house in his pajamas, but he didn’t care. The only thing on his mind was heading to the junkyard to find Ed and Eddy. The junkyard was only a six minute walk from Eddy’s house. He found Eddy’s van parked at the end of the lane.

When he reached the junkyard, the smell of burning trash was strong in the air. As he followed the smell, the obvious smell of marijuana accompanied the first smell. He had to be getting close to them. He finally found them in the middle of the junkyard surrounding a makeshift fire pit. Johnny was smoking off of the bowl while Eddy watched Ed was sprawled out on the ground, kicking his feet around like an infant.

“I think I’m turning into a turtle, Eddy. Turn me over! I’m lying on my shell.” Ed laughed nonsensically. Ed extended his hand towards Eddy. 

“You’re not turning into a turtle, Monobrow! You’re just stoned and have the brain of one.” Eddy quipped, “Ed, you don’t need help lifting yourself back up!”

“But Eddy, my butt is falling asleep!” 

“Your head’s asleep,” Eddy retorted.

“C’mon Eddy! Please!” Ed pleaded. 

“No, you’re a big boy, Ed. Lift yourself up!” Eddy turned when he heard Edd chuckle, “it’s about time you showed up. Ed almost ate Jonny’s bowl I don’t know how many times now.”

“I came to make sure you, Ed, or Jonny didn’t get arrested,” Edd replied, taking a seat next to Eddy. 

“You wish. The cops in Peach Creek are so brain dead, Ed could do their jobs better than they can,” Eddy rolled his eyes, “did you just get out of the shower? Not that I really care, but didn’t Dad scold you over using the shower more than once a day?”

“Yes, well, I’m sorry I went against your father’s wishes, but I was feeling under the weather and didn’t want to be spread bacteria around,” Edd hoped that it was a convincing lie. 

“Eh, whatever,” Eddy patted his stomach, “Fuck I’m starving. I’m craving some potato chips or maybe even a nice greasy cheese pizza.”

“You didn’t bring snacks? Plank and I have the munchies,” Jonny chimed in. He disposed of the ash and put the bowl back in his jean pocket. “It’s getting late, guys. Plank and I need to get something to eat before we hit the sack.”

“Yeah, we should probably be going,” Eddy agreed, putting the bag containing the rest of the marijuana into his pocket. “Get up Lumpy or Double D and I will scrub you down with soap and water.”

Ed quickly shot up from the ground and screamed, “No soap for Ed!”

“Goodness Ed. Your lack of hygiene does have its benefits sometimes,” Edd marveled at how quickly Ed got up after hearing the word “soap.” 

Edd became the designated driver as soon as the four teen boys reached the van after putting out the bonfire. No other people were walking or driving on the lane, so they were in the clear to drive without any issues. Eddy sat in the passenger’s seat while Jonny and Ed sat on the waterbed in the back. The lane was large enough to have one vehicle drive down the pathway without colliding into anything. However, there was not enough room to turn the van around. Edd drove the van backwards out of the lane, watching the rear-view mirror as he drove. Once he gotten out of the lane, he dropped Ed home first. Edd could only hope that Sarah was asleep. If the redhead wasn’t, Edd hated to think how much trouble Ed would’ve gotten into. 

Jonny was next person to get dropped off. After bidding Jonny goodbye, they watched Jonny walk into his house. Even though they lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood, it will still better to make sure that their acquaintance made it inside safely. Before Jonny made it inside, he remarked to Plank how there was never a dull moment in the cul-de-sac with “those three goofballs” around. 

When they got home, Edd got out of the car and gazed at the nighttime sky. Edd began tracing what constellations he could make out from the nighttime sky, playing connect-the-dots with the stars. Eddy got out after him and patted his own stomach, “If I don’t get something to eat soon, I’ll consider eating the junk underneath Ed’s bed.”

“We wouldn’t want that to happen,” Edd replied, half paying attention to what Eddy was saying. He continued to trace the constellation of Draco with his finger. 

“Earth to Sockhead!” Eddy yelled, getting Edd’s attention, “what’s so fascinating about the stupid sky?” 

Edd growled in annoyance, “I was looking at the constellations, Eddy! Can’t I observe one thing in peace before I head inside?”

“Great, stars . . .” Eddy replied unenthusiastically, “I’m going inside. Are you coming?”

“Yes, I’m coming.” Edd followed Eddy inside only to witness Eddy making the unhealthiest meal that he had ever witnessed. He watched from the kitchen table as Eddy made his concoction. The end result appeared to be a bacon cheeseburger with fries, mozzarella sticks, a fried egg, and topped with four different condiments; ranch dressing, mustard, ketchup, and mayo – a lot of it. It was something that he could easily Ed eating during one of his sleepwalking binges – or awake, that guy could consume anything. 

“So how was the junkyard bonfire with Ed and Jonny?” Edd asked, genuinely curious about what he missed out on.

“Not much. Jonny and Ed, well, acted like themselves and we smoked weed by the fire. You didn’t miss much other than Ed trying to eat Jonny’s bowl.” Eddy answered after taking a bite of his sandwich, “what did you do while I was gone?”

Edd was a bit taken aback by the question, “I was resting. I was feeling under the weather and had to rest for a while.” He hoped that his lie was convincing enough to fool Eddy. He hated lying in general, but telling Eddy the truth was out of the question. “Why do you ask?” 

“I was only curious,” Eddy replied.

“Eddy,” Edd hesitated. Asking the question on his mind was going to be extremely difficult without him phrasing it in an awkward or vague way, “D-do you think I have changed at all?”

“Uh no,” Eddy looked at him funny, finishing what was left of his sandwich, “You’re still the uptight pain-in-the-ass that you’ve always been.”

“Thanks for the backhanded compliment,” Edd muttered, “You really haven’t grown at all.”

“You know what they say, you can’t fix what isn’t broken,” Eddy responded with a shrug, a self-assured grin plastered across his face.

“Right,” Edd shook his head, “Shall we head to bed, then?”

“Sure, Double D.” Edd got up from the table and headed towards Eddy’s bedroom. He jolted when he felt a hand on the small of his back. Could Eddy’s brother really be that inconsiderate to hit on him in front of Eddy? When he turned around, he was shocked to find out that Matthew was not the one caressing him; it was Eddy. Edd shrugged it off as an accidental touch until Eddy begins softly caressing his back. “Eddy, what are you doing?” His tone was more curious than it was furious at Eddy’s actions. 

“Eh, nothing.” Eddy rubbed the back of his neck, nervously.

Edd continued walking towards the room. Even though Eddy was acting a bit strangely, Edd did not feel uncomfortable around him. Once Edd had reached the room, Edd sat on the bed and relaxed with his hands in his lap. He had a long day. Between helping Eddy with the girls and dealing with Matthew, he was emotionally and physically exhausted. 

“What happened to my blankets?” Eddy squawked indignantly as he entered the room.

“Your bedding needed to be washed, so I taken the liberty of taking them to the laundry.” That answer seemed like a logical enough explanation without delving into too many details of why his bedding needed to be washed.

“And you were so worried about changing into a different person?” Eddy exclaimed, “You couldn’t wait until morning? How are we supposed to sleep on a bare mattress?”

“Calm down, Eddy,” Edd sighed, “We can use our sleeping bags for tonight. There’s no need to panic.” Edd made the bed using the sleeping bags to cover the mattress up for them to sleep. Edd sat back down on the bed after it was made. 

“I still can’t believe that you washed the bedding before bed,” Eddy mumbled, flopping down next to Edd.

“You’re just going to have to get used to it,” Edd said.

Eddy leaned into the crook of his friend’s neck and breathed a sigh. Edd patted his friend on the shoulder. Eddy yawned and lowered his head into Edd’s lap. Eddy only let him and Ed see what was behind the tough façade of his on rare moments, but the display before him was something new. Eddy was vulnerable at the moment. The skinnier teen ran his fingers through Eddy’s gelled hair. “Hey, don’t mess up the hair!” Eddy fussed.

“It’s probably time that we should be heading to bed soon.” As much as Edd wouldn’t mind Eddy sleeping in his lap, he would much prefer to sleep on his side of the bed. Edd got up and lay down on top of the sleeping bag on his side of the bed. Eddy had lain on the bed after he did. He opened his eyes when he felt Eddy scoot closer to him. Eddy’s bloodshot eyes were focused in on his lips.

A second later, he felt Eddy’s lips upon his. Edd let out a moan in shock, but did not push his friend away. His heart fluttered when he felt one of Eddy’s hands on his back. The experience felt awkward, but pleasant. Edd kissed him with as much fervor. As they were kissing, Eddy slipped his tongue inside to explore the wet cavern inside. Edd moaned into Eddy’s mouth and kissed him back. 

After a while of making out with Eddy, Edd’s own guilty conscious came into play. Eddy was still intoxicated from the weed he smoked earlier with Ed and Jonny. Edd could smell the weed on Eddy’s clothes. There was a good chance Eddy wouldn’t remember this in the morning. He had performed fellatio on Matthew just a few hours before. Everything about situation didn’t feel right. He felt like he was taking advantage of Eddy in his current state. 

Edd withdrew from the kiss and felt Eddy suckle on the skin just below the mandible on the opposite side from where Matthew gave him a hickey earlier. He hoped that he did not end up with another hickey on his body. “Eddy? Eddy!”

Eddy removed his mouth from his friend’s neck, “yeah, Double D?”

“Eddy, I don’t want to take advantage of you in your intoxicated state. Please, I beg of you. Let’s just go to bed for the night.” Edd explained.

Eddy groaned, not pleased with the words he had just heard, scooting back to his side of the bed. “Fine Sockhead.”

“Thank you Eddy,” Edd thanked him gratefully. “Goodnight.” Edd turned over to try to get some sleep for the night.


	14. Secrets

The morning came as quickly as Edd shut his eyes. He turned over to find that Eddy still asleep. Did Eddy remember his actions from last night? Edd silently slipped out of the covers and dressed himself for the day. He turned back to Eddy’s sleeping form. He wondered how Eddy would react to him if he did remember what happened last night. The thought terrified him. It could go so wrong. Everything that he worked so hard to keep together could crumble apart. Even though Eddy was the one who started it last night, Edd was the only one that was not under the influence of drugs.

A sense of normalcy is what Edd desperately needed at the moment. He certainly was not going to get it in Eddy’s house at the moment. Ed’s house might be a safe bet. There were no weird or awkward feelings between him and the tall teen. He could hang out with Ed while he got a chance to clear his head. Eddy would probably be sleeping until noon anyway.

Across the street, Rolf was hard at work with putting up a wrought iron privacy fence in the backyard of his house. The fence would serve as a fortress to keep out unwanted visitors once it was completed. At least he was not putting up a moat again. Rolf was not alone in building the fence. Kevin was helping Rolf with the fence. He looked as worn out as Rolf did. Nazz sat on one of the stumps with her crutches lying beside her and watched Kevin and Rolf work on the fence. Edd crossed the street and watched, wondering if they were going to need help with the fencing.

Rolf was yelling at Wilfred for getting into his vegetable patch again. He helped Kevin and Nazz pick up the next section. “This fancy modern go-go fence from modern tool shop better work at keeping Rolf’s creatures safe, Kevin-boy. Rolf is already sick as a pregnant yak from looking at it. It looks like a torture device to impale troublemakers than a fence.”

“Look, dude. I know it’s a bit of a change, but this thing can take quite a beating. Besides, the city is not going to give you a citation over an iron fence like they would if you built another moat around your house.” Kevin explained, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Curse their laws! Next they’ll be telling Rolf where he can and cannot store his candied beets.” Rolf turned to Kevin as they turned the fence section vertically, “you seem more worried than Rolf is over his animals. Speak to Rolf.”

“Yeah, Kev.” Nazz finally spoke, “you’ve been really overprotective of Rolf and me lately. What’s up?”

“It’s nothing. It wouldn’t be righteous of me to let you two get hurt again. That sociopath would purposely try to hurt someone if he could,” Kevin replied nervously. 

“Rolf thinks there’s more to story than you are speaking. A fowl does not hide from someone unless it know for fact that the person cannot be trusted. Rolf not talking about that time at the whale home either. You’ve been afraid of that demon of a man before then.”

Kevin looked around, paranoid, but didn’t see anything. Edd had hidden himself in one of the nearby bushes in the middle of the three teens’ conversation. “Look, I’ve just heard about the shit that guy had done when he and my cousin, Sasha, went to middle school and high school together. I heard about the stuff he did to anyone who even looked at him funny.”

Edd had quickly gotten out of the bush and headed towards Ed’s house. If he would’ve stuck around longer or offered to help Kevin and Rolf with the fence, they probably would’ve known that he was eavesdropping on their private conversation and Kevin would’ve punched him for it if the redhead was feeling merciful. What Kevin revealed was not that much of a secret to Edd, considering that he heard the same thing from Matthew two nights ago. 

Once Edd reached Ed’s house, he seen Ed’s mom picking up the morning paper in her loose-fitted lilac-colored chemise. Edd wanted to ask Aurora if she knew of Matthew’s voyeuristic habits towards her years ago, but decided against it. He doubted Ed’s mom was in the mood to hear about how she was spied on by the then 12 year old delinquent. 

Edd waved to Ed’s mom and headed towards Ed’s basement window, which was almost always open for Edd or Eddy. Aurora usually did not chase Edd or Eddy away unless Ed got grounded, which happened once in a while. Edd opened the window and slipped inside. Ed’s room was still the same messy landfill that it had always been. The old armchair and TV was still in the same spot as it always had been. The never-ending towers of B-rated horror movies sat next to TV. Horror movie posters still covered every inch of the wall. Though what would change after not being in Ed’s room in about a month?

There was no sign of Ed, but he could be eating breakfast at the moment. Edd sat on the armchair, pulling out a cooked chicken from under the chair’s cushions before he sat down. He looked around the room’s familiar surroundings and found something that he never seen in the room before. There was a lone photograph on the table where Ed kept his model monsters. Curiosity got the better of him and he got up to examine the photo. Any hope he had at normalcy was quickly dashed with the contents of that photo. 

The photo was of Ed getting kissed by his three girlfriends with a big goofy grin painted across his face. It all made sense now. Why Ed remained secretive over the identities of his girlfriends. Why Ed did not want Eddy and him to meet his girlfriends. The reason was because Ed was dating the Kanker sisters and knew that Eddy and he would not approve of the relationship.

For years, the Kanker sisters have tormented them. Between the countless times that the three sisters have chased after them, forced them to kiss them, and ruined their scams, the sisters have made their lives miserable. Whenever the Kanker sisters were spotted, the three boys would quickly turn the other way to avoid them. The fact that Ed was now dating all three of them was ironically bizarre, considering everything that had happened in the past.

The photo was quickly snatched from his hands. Edd quickly turned to see Ed with a piece of toast in his mouth and an unreadable expression upon his face. Ed quickly flopped down on his bed and focused on the picture, eating the toast as he looked at the photo. Edd had no idea what to do. Was Ed angry at him? Was he in danger just from being in the same room as Ed? He carefully approached Ed, “Ed, I’m here for you. I am now aware of your relationship with the Kanker sisters.”

Ed did not respond. His gaze remained fixed on the photo. Edd tried again, “Ed, can you just talk to me for a few seconds?”

“You’re going to make me break up with my girlfriends.” Ed cried, clenching the photo to his chest.

“No Ed,” Edd sat down on the bed with him, “I just want to make sure that you’re happy with them.”

“I am happy!” Ed sniffed, “but you’re going to tell Eddy and I’ll be forced to break up with my darlings like the astronaut in the movie was forced to abandon his marriage to the queen of Venus!” 

“Ed, I’m not going to tell Eddy,” Edd reassured him, “I promise. When did you first realize your feelings for them?”

“It happened when I went to the monster movie night at the movies. It was the movie Nightclub Massacre where –“Edd intentionally cleared his throat and Ed skipped over explaining what the movie was about, “Oh sorry! My darlings May, Marie, and Lee was there. I was scared of them, especially when they sat next to me. They start to tell me about the movie and that’s when they became less scary and more cute. They told me to meet them at their trailer the next day and when I went, I kept staring at their boobs and wanting to cover their faces with kisses.”

“That’s actually very touching, except for the part where you stared down at their chests,” Edd patted Ed on the back.

“Don’t worry, Double D! I got to see the rest of their boobs after a while and taste them too,” Ed replied shamelessly.   
Edd blushed and yanked down his hat over his face, “Ed! Have you any common decency? Please tell me that you’re still at least a virgin.”

“What’s a virgin?” Ed asked, confused.

“You don’t know what a virgin is? Ed, did you fall asleep in Health class?” Edd figured that he would try to explain to Ed what he was asking, “Ed, I’m talking about sex. Did you ever have sex with the Kankers?”

“Oh yeah!” Ed’s grin was as wide as a Cheshire cat’s, “I had sex with all three of them. Their down there looks like lunch meat kinda like those girls on Eddy’s magazines and it felt like a toothless hungry mouth when I put my down there in theirs. The first time I had sex was before the movie night we had with Eddy’s brother. The first one I had sex with was May and she was very shy when we had sex in front of Marie and Lee. Then I had sex with Marie and then Lee. After that I felt happy and closer to them. Hey, Double D, is it normal that I get the same feelings down there during sex that I do when I touch myself for a while?”

So it seemed that Ed understood the basics of sex – sort of. From Ed’s vague account of what took place between him and the Kanker sisters, it seemed like the sexual act was consensual. That was not what Edd was worried about. He was worried about Ed not mentioning ever wearing a condom when he had sex with the sisters or mentioning the sisters using birth control. It was hypocritical of him to worry about Ed’s situation and not his own with Matthew. The color drained from his face. Considering that man’s apparent hypersexual tendencies, he could be walking around with a number of STDs and are not even aware of it. 

After a while of dwelling on his own issues, he answered Ed’s answer. “Yes, Ed. It’s called ejaculating and it’s completely normal. You just need to be more careful when having sex with them in the future. Right now, any one of the Kanker sisters could be walking around pregnant with your unborn child like how your mother was pregnant with Sarah.”

“Ah!” Ed cooed.

“Ed, this is serious!” Edd exclaimed, “Babies are a lot of responsibility. You would need to find a part-time job if they do end up pregnant with your child.”

“I would still love them and their little dickens.” Ed responded. Edd had to admit, Ed’s naivety and loyalty to the Kanker sisters was extremely endearing. 

“I’m just looking out for you, Ed.” Edd replied in defeat. He could not even figure out a solution to his own problems with his own biological urges at the moment. How else was he supposed to help Ed with his situation other than giving Ed moral support with whatever decision Ed decided to make on his own?

Edd decided to pass the rest of the time trying to teach Ed about Pavlov’s experiments through a demonstration. “Pay attention, Ed. Every time I turn the radio on and off. I’ll give you a teaspoon of Chunky Puffs. The radio would work fine since I don’t have a bell. ”

“A bell could replace the radio when it comes to good music?” Ed asked.

“That could be for another experiment, Ed. This experiment will replicate the classical conditioning experiment Pavlov performed with his dogs.” Edd placed a measuring cup onto Ed’s lap. He made a quick trip to the kitchen to get the supplies for the experiment before he started the experiment. Edd turned on the radio and saw that Ed did not respond to the radio static. He held out a teaspoon of Chunky Puffs in front of Ed and the eager teen quickly took into his mouth. Edd hid the Chunky Puffs box behind his back, so that Ed wouldn’t ruin it with his gluttonous appetite. Edd repeated the process four more times until he decided to do the last part of the experiment. He turned on the radio, but didn’t feed Ed a teaspoon of Chunky Puffs. He waited for Ed’s response. 

“Double D! Where are the Chunky Puffs?” Ed looked around with drool hanging down his chin.

Edd wiped the drool hanging down from Ed’s chin with a Kleenex that was in his pocket, “I must say, our Pavlov experiment was a success. A bit too well, I must add, but we successfully copied Pavlov’s experiment! Isn’t it wonderful, Ed? It’s a simple experiment, but one that does serve a scientific purpose to prove that living things can be conditioned to respond to a certain stimuli.”

“Can I get Chunk Puffs now?” Ed asked, not really caring about how much of a success the experiment was.

“Yes, Ed,” Edd handed his experiment participant the rest of the Chunky Puffs box. Ed inhaled the rest of the cereal from the box. Edd was used to Ed’s atrocious eating habits. He hoped that at least Ed can at least gain something of merit from the experiment, but that was asking too much. Ed responded to the experiment like a lab rat; he only cared about the reward at the end. 

Before they could think of something else to do for the day, Sarah burst in through the basement door. “Ed! Mom says that you need to come with us to visit our aunt. Her birthday is today!” That was Edd’s cue to leave. Edd guessed that the family was visiting the same aunt with the cats that Ed was allergic to.

Edd ended up going back to Eddy’s house. When he went through the door of Eddy’s room, Eddy was still asleep. The suspense was overwhelming. Would Eddy remember anything from the night before? Edd exited out of Eddy’s room and switched around the laundry while he waited for Eddy to wake up. He felt his hips being groped on. Avoiding Matthew’s sexual advances seemed impossible when the guy seemed to pop out when Edd least expected him. 

“I was expecting you last night,” Matthew hissed in his ear.

“I was much too exhausted after I went to go get Ed, Eddy, and Jonny.” Edd responded. He felt the tip of his hat being lifted by the edge where Eddy had given him a hickey.

“Looks like you were,” Edd could feel a sense of foreboding in the air. Matthew scrapped his fingernails along the hickey. “So Pipsqueak decided to put the moves on you? That certainly is not the one I gave you last night, you little slut.”

Edd turned around to face Matthew. “I would appreciate if you would quit being so vulgar. Eddy was intoxicated and –“

Matthew took it as an invitation to let his hands roam across Edd’s body. Edd knew that the man was toying with him, but he was too exhausted to continue trying to fight off his advances. “You know, girlfriend. You can make it up to me today by sleeping in my bed later on tonight and hanging out with me before Pipsqueak wakes up. I’ve got something else planned today for you and Pipsqueak, but you two are going to have to wait for the surprise.”

“Were you not satiated from your liaison with me last night?” Edd asked indignantly. 

“No and I will not be until you’re underneath me with my cock in your ass,” Matthew whispered huskily, his breath was hot against Edd’s neck.

Edd snapped. “Alright! I’m tired of fighting this losing battle with you. This was all a part of your insidious plan, right? To push me until I finally crack! Well, Matthew, once again you are going to get your way! Do whatever you want to me! I’m done fighting with you!”

He cursed the day that he made that deal with Matthew. He would have just told Eddy the truth if he could go back in time. Now, telling Eddy the truth about his crush is nothing compared to the even more damaging secret of Matthew having a sexual relationship with him as blackmail to hide a previous secret. If Eddy found out about his relationship with Matthew, it would’ve destroyed his friendship with Eddy beyond repair. 

“So, you finally admit that you want my dick after playing that hard-to-get bullshit,” Matthew purred, smugly, not giving Edd a chance to protest, “Alright, let’s see if you are going to keep your promise to me this time. We can do it later on tonight when Pipsqueak can’t interrupt us.”


	15. Fear and Appeasement

Edd made a terrible mistake. He had put himself in another awkward situation with his angry outburst. Any attempt to take back what he had said was ignored by Matthew. Edd stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room, not knowing what to do. Matthew made it clear that he wanted to spend some time with him before Eddy woke up, so Edd remained in the living room to avoid getting on Matthew’s bad side.

The elder sat on the couch, bored out of his mind. He drummed his fingers on his pant leg and crooned the lyrics to an industrial rock song that he knew by heart in an attempt to entertain himself. When that didn’t work, he groaned out in boredom. He looked up to see Edd standing in the middle of the room awkwardly. Matthew eyed him suspiciously until he remembered why Edd was there. “Hey, why don’t you make yourself useful and get me some Bacardi and coke on the rocks. The Bacardi is in the freezer in a brown paper bag. I got it yesterday before I picked up your boyfriend’s weed.”

Edd sighed and quietly went into the kitchen. He remembered Matthew coming in with a few paper bags the day before when Matthew returned from his day of driving around town instead of spending time with his kids. Edd grudging prepared the alcohol, thanking all of the times that Eddy made him look at those magazines. Without them, he probably would have never known what “on the rocks” meant. There was always a recipe for an alcoholic beverage on the back of those dirty magazines.He handed the large glass to Matthew silently. Matthew’s fingers brushed against his as he handed the man the alcohol. 

Adrenaline was rushing through his veins. He had trouble distinguishing between if he feared the man in front of him, hated the man, and/or lusted after him. The feelings he had for Matthew were a bit complex to put a label on. However, the one thing that he was certain of was that love was one of the emotions that he would never feel for Matthew.

“Come sit with me,” Matthew took a sip from his drink. 

Edd reluctantly took a seat next to Matthew. Both of them sat in silence for several minutes. Matthew took a couple of gulps of his Bacardi and coke. Edd felt Matthew’s arm drape across his shoulders. Edd moved further away to avoid getting touched. “Mind my personal space, please.”

“I’m not that repulsive, am I?” Matthew laughed in amusement.

“Personality wise, yes you are.” Edd answered grimly, “You’re a sociopathic barbarian. You’re completely selfish and never think about the needs of other people. What’s worse is that Eddy idolized you! He idolized you and what did you do? You gave him misleading maps and physically abused him in front of all of our peers.”

“You think I give a shit about that? Let me tell you a little story, sweetheart. Your little boyfriend was used to it. I babysit him from the time he was in diapers until the time that I was kicked out. Every time he stepped out of line, I put him back in his place, whether it meant slapping him in the face or twisting his arm out of place. I didn’t leave any bruises, so my parents never found out. It just made him into the Pipsqueak that we both know today. I taught him everything I knew before I left too, so you should be thanking me for teaching him how to scam people.”

“Thanking you? You deserve nothing, you monstrous, nefarious bastard!” Edd’s entire body shook with anger. He tried to clear his mind and think of other things. A cold, emotionless chuckle from Matthew was what set him over the edge. He charged at Matthew. He wanted to strangle that man’s throat. How dare that man hurt Eddy, his own brother, for years and have the audacity to demand gratification for it, because it “shaped” Eddy into the person that they both know today. 

Matthew blocked his attack and shoved him into the coffee table. Edd tumbled off of the coffee table and landed on the floor. He quickly got up and charged at Matthew again; attempting to hurt Matthew in any way that he could just like Matthew did to Eddy. There was no logic to his actions. Rage blinded the normally passive teenager. 

Edd gasped when he was caught by his neck and lifted off of the ground. Anger was quickly replaced with terror when he dared to look Matthew in the eye. The deadly glare that Matthew given him was worse than the one he received at Mondo A-Go Go when he had stood up to him. Matthew chuckled darkly, “That was a wrong move on your part, princess. You still have so much spunk to you. So much fire! I can’t wait to see more of it later on tonight.”

“Please, let me go.” Edd pleaded, choking as he was gasping for air. The grip around his neck felt like noose. He was losing oxygen with every second that he was in Matthew’s grip. 

“As you wish.” Matthew choke slammed Edd to the floor. The back of Edd’s head and back throbbed in pain at the impact with the floor. He laid on the floor motionless, too stunned to lift himself from the floor. He made a terrible mistake for losing his temper and assuming that he could even get revenge for Eddy’s sake. 

Edd whimpered pathetically as Matthew kneeled over him, straddling his waist. Edd attempted to push Matthew off of him, but his wrists were pinned above his head. Matthew cupped Edd’s chin with his free hand and examined his face closely, taking sick pleasure in that Edd had been reduced to whimpering, shaking wreck. “That’s much better. You’re lucky that I don’t want to ruin that nice, delicate skin of yours with bruises or cuts. You don’t even know how lucky you are. I could’ve done a lot worse to you. I’ll have you know that I’m not putting up temper tantrums, especially ones from spoiled rotten teenagers.”

“Please, I apologize for my actions several minutes ago. You’re crushing me.” Edd pleaded with the 24 year old.

“You’re not going to try to strangle me again?” Matthew asked.

Edd shook his head. “I would not think of it again. I’m being sincere, Matthew.”

“Alright.” Matthew lifted himself up and stepped over Edd to return to drinking his Bacardi. Edd slowly lifted himself up as Matthew gulped down more alcohol. Matthew noticed that Edd had gotten up and Matthew sat his drink down, walking towards the teen. He gripped Edd’s backside, pulling the teen close to him. Matthew locked lips with Edd in a show of dominance over him. Despite the foul taste of alcohol on the man’s lips and their skirmish several minutes ago, Edd kissed him back in defeat.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~

Eddy woke up an hour later. During that hour, Edd spent it reading a medical encyclopedia while Matthew drunk more of the Bacardi and coke. Edd looked up at Eddy’s face to see if Eddy looked at him any differently from the night before. Eddy’s facial expression was pretty neutral. He did not look at Edd in disgust. It was probably a good sign that Eddy forgot about what happened last night. While disappointing, it was probably better that way. He could not handle having another stressful incident at the moment.

“We’re heading to Lucas’ pad soon. Go get ready, Pipsqueak.” Matthew replied, finishing his Bacardi.

Eddy winced at the sight of Edd’s neck, causing the teen in the beanie to cover it with his hand, subconsciously. He turned to talk with Matthew. “Yeah, yeah. I’m surprised that Lucas is still around.”

“Yeah, he called when all three of you were in the junkyard last night.” Matthew confirmed, setting his glass down. “Seth will be there too.”

Eddy nodded with disinterest, “Well, I need to get ready. C’mon Sockhead!” Eddy pointed in the direction to his room. Once they both reached Eddy’s bedroom, Eddy shuts the door and drags Edd to the mirror, “What the hell is that red mark on your neck?”

Edd looks in the mirror to find that Matthew had indeed left a red handprint across his neck. “It’s nothing.” Edd lied.

“My bro grabbed your throat, didn’t he?” Eddy frowned.

“Yes, Matthew and I got into a skirmish earlier,” Edd admitted shamefully, “He was the one who initiated the fight, but I was the one that physically attacked him first – or tried to, anyway.”

Eddy just nodded pensively. He did not even want to know what caused the fight between Matthew and Edd. All he cared about was getting Edd far away from Matthew. “I think you need to stay at Ed’s for a couple of days. I’m saying this for your own protection, Edd.”

“And leave you here alone with him? Thank you for the suggestion, but I would rather stay here,” Edd replied firmly.

“What are ya, nuts? Unlike me, you have a chance to escape from my brother,” Eddy shouted at him. 

Edd folded his arms, “no, I don’t Eddy. Did you forget that the reason why I’m not in foster care system is because your mother has legal custody of me? I don’t have any relatives that live in Peach Creek, let alone the state. Do you think your brother or your parents after being fed insidious lies from said man would hesitate to report me as a runaway?”

Margaret, Sam, and Marian signed the legal document four years ago, after the Mondo A-Go Go incident. When Edd had left with Ed and Eddy, Marian had returned home in the evening and found the half-written note. She rightfully assumed that he had run away from home. Marian had turned to Margaret for comfort since both of them noticed that their boys had gone missing. During their distress over losing the boys, Marian had agreed to Margaret’s suggestion of letting her have guardianship of Edd if something ever happened to Sam or her. 

After much discussion with her husband (and after scolding her son when he returned home), they both went down to the courthouse the very next day to sign the legal document granting Margaret guardianship of Edd in case of their deaths or absence. To this day, Edd still did not know what caused his parents to stress over the possibility of their deaths or absence, but he was thankful that his mother and Margaret gotten that court document signed. Without it, Edd shuddered to think of where he might end up. 

“Alright fine! I don’t like this, but whatever. Do what you want!” Eddy caved bitterly. He made a mental note to himself to try to talk to his brother later. There was not much he could do even if Matthew beat up Edd in front of him, but it could not hurt to try to reason with him. That man could possibly put them both in the hospital and not think twice about it if he wanted to. “We got to get ready to go see Matthew’s asshole friends.”

“What are they like, Eddy?” Edd asked. 

“Lucas is a weirdo and Seth is a freak. They were both complete assholes from what I remember when they showed up at my house a few times when I was little.” Eddy replied, gathering some flashy clothing to get into the shower. The description Eddy had given him of Matthew’s friends was pretty vague. Edd shrugged and decided against wearing a tie for the occasion, after debating in his mind if a tie would be too much to meet to complete strangers in. What he wore was fine for the evening. Fifteen minutes later, Eddy came back in the room, still wet from his shower, to freshen up with his usual hair grooming and cologne spritzing ritual. 

“You’re putting quite a bit of work into maintaining your appearance to see two men that you claim are less than respectable gentlemen.” Edd replied.

“Get a clue. How am I supposed to impress those two asses if I don’t look like a cool guy?” Eddy boasted, “If I look like a cool guy, those two would stop calling me `Matthew’s baby brother’ and view me as an adult!”

“I sometimes worry about your vanity issues,” Edd muttered. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The ride to Matthew’s friend’s house was a 15 minute drive from the cul-de-sac. They decided to take Eddy’s van to the place since Matthew did not feel like driving the Camaro. Matthew had given Eddy directions to the place before they had gotten into the van. Of course, Matthew had control of the radio from the passenger seat of the van and turned up the radio up high. The music that was blasting from the speakers was so unbearably loud that Edd’s ears started to hurt from how loud the music was.

Edd still felt kind of skittish around Matthew from what happened earlier and he could tell that Eddy felt the same way. The heavyset teen kept his arm between the seats, as if his arm was a shield to protect Edd from his brother. He wondered if Eddy had the same motivations as he did, to appease Matthew in whatever way that he could. Only difference was Edd mostly did it to keep his secrets hidden, Eddy did it to avoid any further physical abuse. Putting that into perspective, Eddy’s actions suddenly started to make sense to Edd. Eddy was like a battered wife cowering in the presence of her husband or a child that made excuses whenever they showed up to school with a fresh new bruise.

Matthew turned down the volume of the radio, “it’s the next house coming up. I only have one rule while we’re here; don’t embarrass the fuck out of me, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah. I heard ya!” Eddy parked at the next house over. Both Edd and Eddy’s mouths dropped when they seen the house. Edd had never seen a mansion before in his entire life until he laid eyes upon the house they stopped at. The pearly white modern-styled mansion in front of him was a sight to behold. Where they at the right place?


	16. Matthew’s Friends

“Whoa! You never told me that Lucas was loaded!” Eddy exclaimed, giddily getting out of the van. “Check out the mermaid fountain!” Eddy pointed to the large fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

“This is all very lavish, Eddy.” Edd agreed, “However, I doubt this Lucas fellow would want us gawking at all of his worldly possessions.”

“Ah, who cares?” Eddy wrapped his arm around Edd’s neck tightly, “this is living!”

Edd craned his neck towards the sound of the buzzer being pushed. Matthew pressed the buzzer again until someone answered. Edd could barely hear what was said from the speaker, but Matthew answered back, “It’s me, Matthew McGee. I’m here to hang out with Lucas, so open the goddamn gate already!” Matthew then muttered to himself as the gate opened, “They must have some new fucktards working on staff now.”

All three of them returned to the van and drove down the long driveway to the house. The landscaping of the house was something to be admired. The whole house could be featured in a magazine. Edd wondered what career path Matthew friend Lucas has taken to be able to afford such a luxurious place. Apparently he was not the only one who was curious.

“Hey, what scam did Lucas pull off to afford this place?” Eddy asked.

“None, Pipsqueak,” Matthew replied, parking the van in front of Lucas house, “His dad’s a CEO and his mom’s a deceased heiress. Oh, and his new stepmom is a pregnant gold digger and a coke whore.”

“Yes, well, I doubt Lucas’ family affairs are any of our concern.” Edd fidgeted at hearing the last part.

After all three of them got out of the van, Ed and Eddy followed Matthew to the west side of the house. The west side of the mansion looked like an expansion had been made to the house in recent years. As they walked, Eddy pointed towards a window to a room with an indoor pool and Jacuzzi. “Check it out! That is the biggest pool I’ve ever seen in my entire life! It even has a waterfall.”

Once they reached the side door, Matthew just walked inside without knocking or ringing the doorbell. Eddy cocked an eyebrow and followed after his brother. Edd reluctantly followed after Eddy. Edd did not get a chance to appreciate the freshly polished marble flooring, the expensive paintings on the walls, or the opulent chandelier. 

They were led up a stairway and into what appeared to be an entertainment room of some sort. The wallpaper used in the room was a vertical black and white stripe pattern and the room also had grey carpeting. On the walls hung several movie posters, including one from the movie `A Clockwork Orange.’ The room contained two black leather couches, a glass coffee table, a pool table, a large silver stereo system, a miniature bar in the middle of the large room, and a white table with six matching chairs.

At the table sat two men, one was throwing darts at a dart board and the other was sticking a syringe into his stomach and injecting the clear liquid into his body. At first, Edd thought the man was shooting up an illegal drug of some kind until he saw the insulin bottle next to the man. 

The man that injected himself with insulin was not what Edd expected a friend of Matthew’s to look like. The man looked like a mild-mannered American ideal with perfectly trimmed nails and light brown hair. The man also wore clothing that probably cost as much as the repairs that Eddy had done to the van. Edd could not help but get the feeling that behind those model looks and expensive clothing lurked something that was extremely unsettling. He did hang out with Matthew after all.

The other man that was the opposite extreme of what Edd expected a friend of Matthew’s to look like. The man would’ve been average looking if it was not for his eccentric style. The man had a silver nose ring and tattoos covering every inch of his arms. The man’s hair was dyed a jet black color and was short and shaggy. 

After the diabetic tossed the needle into the trash, he walked towards Matthew and patted him on the back, “long time no see, you fucker!”

Edd leaped back when the brown haired diabetic approached them. The man did not even bother to properly bandage himself or even untuck his shirt over his stomach. Blood trailed down from the man’s stomach to the edge of the man’s dark slacks. Edd felt extremely ill from the sight alone.

“Yeah, how the fuck did you did you get my number, Lucas?” Matthew asked.

“Dude, your folks haven’t changed their number in years,” Lucas replied, “I called the amusement park that you used to work at and they told me that you didn’t work there anymore. I figured that you moved back in with your parents. Besides I have plenty of private detectives on call to find you if I needed to.”

Edd looked to see Matthew’s response to Lucas’ creepy statement. The elder seemed unfazed by it. “That’s disturbing.” Edd spoke up.

Lucas looked from Matthew to Edd and Eddy. “Who are the kids? Your dates? I’ll give you credit, they’re at least older than that bitch you knocked up was several years ago. Right Seth?” Lucas addressed tattooed man. Edd knew that they must have been referring to Bonnie’s mother.

“We might need to search the local playgrounds for Mattie’s next date,” Seth joked.

“I know, right?” Lucas snickered, hunching over when he receives a punch from Matthew in the same spot where he injected himself with insulin. “Son of a bitch!” He swore, clenching himself in the stomach.

“Oh dear!” Edd flinched at seeing Lucas getting hit.

“I’m not his date, you stupid assholes!” Eddy yelled as Seth was getting his piercing yanked on by Matthew, “I’m his brother! And this is my friend, Double D!” Eddy introduced Edd.

“Pipsqueak?” Lucas hastily and sloppily put on the gauze and surgical tape that was in his pockets. “I haven’t seen you since you were-“He sticks his hand out and lowers it to where it was one or two feet off of the ground, indicating that he had not seen Eddy since Eddy was a toddler or a small child.

“Excuse me for asking this, but were you diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes mellitus or Type 2?” Edd asked Lucas.

“I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.” Lucas answered. 

“Let go, you fucking dickhead!” Seth yelled. He sighs with relief once Matthew releases the grip he has on his nose. “Jesus Christ, learn to take a fucking joke once in a while. You almost yanked out my damn piercing.”

Matthew just smirks and sits down at the table. Edd and Eddy also sit down. They might have also been guests at Lucas’ home, but they were just outside observers to Matthew’s, Lucas,’ and Seth’s guys night. They might as well been flies on the wall when the three men chatted. It was probably better that way since Lucas and Seth were friends of Matthews. From the conversation, Edd and Eddy were able to find out some things about Matthew’s friends.

Seth, surprisingly, seemed like the most hardworking one of the trio and the most successful. He runs a tattoo parlor in Lemon Brook (much to Eddy’s disgust) that he’s owned and worked on tattoos at for three years. Seth also has a wife that he’s been married to for a year and has a child on the way from his wife. The three also discussed Seth’s recovery from his heroin addiction.

Lucas, on the other hand, is even more unmotivated than Matthew is. Lucas seems like an underachiever who just wants to get a trust fund every month and inherit his dad’s fortune at the end. Despite his apparent lack of motivation, Lucas appeased his father by being the only one in the trio that goes to college as a business major, but still has not earned a degree yet due to poor grades. According to Seth and Matthew, Lucas was extremely good at promoting their scams back in the day, which made Edd wonder, why would Lucas perform scams with Seth and Matthew? He did not need the money.

“Umm, excuse me gentlemen,” Edd spoke up, getting three men’s attention, “how did you three meet?”

“We met when we were kidnapped by some sick old pedophile in a white van and were sodomized for days until we got a chance to run.” Matthew answered with a smirk.

“You’re full of it! Mom and Dad never told me about you getting kidnapped and molested by a pedophile,” Eddy retorted.

“Mattie’s just fucking with you,” Seth chimed in, “Lucas and I met him when he scammed us out of our allowances. We have to have been seven or eight years old at the time. We did not become friends until the beginning of school months later due to our situation with the lunch ladies and the school.”

“What situation was that?” Edd asked, genuinely curious.

“We were the only kids in the school who had to be on a specific diet. Lucas is a diabetic and could not have white bread or pasta, sugar, or anything with a lot of carbs. Matthew is lactose intolerant and would be puking for hours if he had anything with milk, cheese, or cream in it. As for me, I’m allergic to nuts. The lunch ladies did not give two shits about it and even got on to us when we tried to throw away or leave behind the foods that we would have a severe reaction to. The school didn’t give a shit either. So when we discovered that we each had a problem with a specific food that the cafeteria served up every day, we exchanged food items. I know it does not sound like a badass story to you two kids, but that’s what happened.”

“I see,” Edd didn’t know what else to say about it. It was terrible to think about what Peach Creek schools were like when Matthew, Lucas, and Seth attended. It was several years before Edd had attended, so he wondered what event happened to make the school understand the needs of diabetic students and students with allergies. He let the three men continue to chat like school girls while he sat at the table with a bored expression on his face. 

“Remember when you beat up that twerp Sasha babysit?” Seth smirked at Matthew, “I never thought that little faggot would stop crying.”

“While you two faggots were pissing your pants over the thought of Sasha calling the cops,” Matthew also smirked darkly, reaching over to grab a bottle of gin.

“Hey, we held Sasha down while you beat up on that toddler he watched. Besides, Sasha did call the cops, dumbass,” Lucas reminded him, “Seth and I spent a night in juvie and you got put in there for two weeks.”

“It was worth it though,” Matthew bragged, taking a swig of gin after opening it, “Sasha knew then not to fuck with me.”

“Well, three of your infamous thirteen dates in high school were guys,” Seth responded, dully, “I doubt you really cared if the school or your parents knew about it, so why did we get revenge on Sasha?”

“It’s just the principle of the matter. Sasha tried to ruin my reputation, so I got revenge. Simple as that,” Matthew explained. “Though, I did have to give Sasha a second reminder.”

“Do I even want to know what you did?” Seth pulled out a cigarette from his pants pocket. 

“You’re a big pussy, Seth, so I’ll spare you the details,” Matthew took the cigarette from Seth and put it to his own lips and lit it up with a lighter. 

Eddy leaned against the chair, bored stiff. He turned to Edd and whispered, “Let’s ditch these guys!” 

Edd had enough of hearing about the horrible things that the trio did as youths. While Ed, Eddy, and he were no saints, themselves; they did not bully a small child to get back at someone. Edd nodded in agreement and walked out into the hallway without the three men noticing. Eddy came out 35 seconds later carrying a couple of bottles of alcohol. “Honestly, Eddy?”

“So what? Lucas is not going to miss a few bottles. Besides, he can afford a bunch of them!” Eddy argued. “Now let’s try to find something more interesting to do.”

“That’s not all I’m worried about. If you keep consuming alcoholic beverages every day, you could become an alcoholic.” Edd forewarned.

“Whatever,” Eddy retorted, “I’m not going to turn into some fucking alcoholic! Now help me find a room that we both can hang out at without my brother and his two asshole friends.”

After a while of opening random doors, they finally found one with a home theater inside. “I should have anticipated that Lucas’ family would own a private theater room.” Edd thought aloud.

Eddy rushed to the VCR player in the room that was connected to a projector. “Where the heck are the movies? All I see are videotapes of my brother’s glory days. Really, it says so on the tape; `Seth’s, Matt’s and my glory days.”

“Well, beggars can’t be choosers, Eddy. Let’s watch one of them.” Edd suggested, taking a seat in one of the chairs in the room. 

“At least the seats are much more comfortable than the seats at the movie theater.” Edd listened at Eddy pressed the button to play the movie. They were both about to get a look into Matthew’s youth.


	17. Living on Video

The video started off with black static. Edd turned to see Eddy sat in the armchair beside him. The whiff of Eddy’s cologne was intoxicating. Edd let out a soft moan as he remembered the night before. How soft Eddy’s lips felt on his own. How divine Eddy’s tongue felt sliding across his own and how wonderful Eddy tasted. That night was one of the rare moments that Edd would not mind exchanging microorganisms with another person. Edd resisted the urge to taste that heavenly warmth inside of his friend’s mouth again.

The black static quickly changed to focus on the recording of someone’s shoes. The recording started to get fuzzy until the camera was in focus. Judging by the expensive running shoes alone, Edd had to guess that Lucas was the one behind the camera. His guess was proven when Lucas pointed the camera on his face. Teenage Lucas’ hair was a bit longer than it was today and teenage Lucas also suffered from bad acne.

“Is this thing on?” Lucas asked, “Hello, I’m Lucas Malcolm Holmes. I am fourteen years old and I am a Scorpio! These two fuckbags at the stand are Seth Alexander Lovering and Matthew Terry McGee.”

The camera pans to a wooden stand and zooms in on it. Teenage Matthew and Seth sat at the stand with a wooden sign that read “Moonshine: $5” in painted letters. Teenage Seth was creating a stick and poke tattoo on a pig ear. Seth only had one tattoo at the time and it was of a yin-yang symbol. Teenage Matthew looked extremely annoyed at the bottles of Moonshine in front of him. Matthew had also looked a bit different as a teenager. At fourteen, Matthew still did not develop facial hair and was relatively skinnier compared than he was today. He wore a white hoodie under a dark yellow numbered jersey, dark green slacks, and a red cap. It was the same outfit that he seen “Matthew” in when he and Eddy were only twelve. Ed, Edd, and Eddy found out later that day that “Matthew” was actually Sarah and Jimmy the whole time.

“Fuck this!” Matthew cursed, tipping over the stand in a fit of rage. The cups containing moonshine spilled to the ground. “We haven’t had a single fucking customer all day!”

“It’s the end of the month, Mattie,” Seth argued, picking up the pig ear that Matthew knocked over. “Nobody gets their paychecks or allowances until next week.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that, you stupid fuck?” Matthew growled, stomping away from the failed scam. He turned towards the camera and sneered, “Turn that fucking camera off, Lucas!”

The video turned to black static. “So even my brother and his friends had failed scams.” Eddy guffawed. 

Edd nodded and waited for the next scene to play. He recognized the next scene being on the Peach Creek Junior High stage. It looked like it taken place at a talent show with the camera being propped up backstage facing the front of the stage. The principal tripped off the stage from a prank involving marbles. 

Just as the principal fell off the stage, Matthew and his friends got on stage wearing bondage accessories over their casual clothes. Leather harnesses went over their shirts. They wore spiked collars around their necks and they carried floggers in their pockets. Edd had to wonder who in their right mind let three fourteen year olds near items like that. The trio more than likely wore the improper accessories as a joke or a way to anger the principal. The trio received a mixture of shocked gasps, laughter, and even cheers. The three managed to top off the outrageousness of the situation by singing “Cradle of Love” by Billy Idol while each playing an instrument. Matthew played the harp, Seth played the drums, and Lucas played the keyboard. 

Edd and Eddy sat in uncomfortable silence as the outrageous talent show performance continued. The segment ended with Lucas rushing to retrieve his camera and the principal shouting out that the three was suspended from school. The familiar black static greeted the two teens in the theater room once again. The next scene was also at a familiar setting. 

Matthew, Seth, and Lucas were at the playground in the cul-de-sac. The camera focused in on a half-naked teen that was tied up to the monkey bars. The teen was a scrawny bespectacled redhead whose straight hair was parted down the middle and grew an inch past his ears. The teen looked to be the same age as Matthew in the video. Matthew was leaning over the teen with a callous grin on his face. Edd felt physically sick just from watching the scene unfold. 

“Why the long face?” Matthew asked the bound teen with mock sympathy, “I thought you were into freaky shit like this.”

The teen struggled against his binds, “No! Let me go, you dorks!”

“You said some shit about me this morning. Something about how I’m a waste of life that would probably end up working as a carnie as an adult. Sound familiar?” Matthew was spit in the face as a response. Matthew quickly backhanded the redhead, “You must have death wish today, you little faggot! I’ll admit; you’ve got a lot of spunk. Don’t think that I won’t bust your head in today though.”

“Ah Mattie,” Seth spoke up, “let’s leave the little geek here. I think the embarrassment of someone finding him in his underwear is punishment enough. Let’s blow this joint before someone sees us and calls the pigs over here.” 

“Since when do you or Lucas think?” Matthew retorted. He turned to Lucas, who was obviously behind the camera, “Lucas, you and that stupid camera are starting to get on my last fucking nerve. Shut that fucking thing off!”

The scene once again goes to black static like they were in some kind of kind of horror movie, forced to watch a scene more disturbing than the last scene. The redhead in the video was correct about Matthew becoming a carnie when he grew up. Edd just hoped that whoever the person is alright now. Eddy twitched in his seat. Have he been twitching the whole time? 

“Let’s do something else,” Eddy gulped and quickly got up to shut off the video. “Let’s try to find that pool. Watching videos is pretty boring anyway.”

Edd could only nod in agreement at Eddy’s statement. He knew that Eddy was just as disturbed by what he had seen just as much as Edd was. Eddy racked his brain trying to figure out why the redheaded kid in the video looked so familiar to him. He had seen the teen in the video before sometime in his youth, but he could not figure when he had seen him. 

Even though his brother was kicked out when Eddy was just eight years old, he was starting to see less and less of his brother after he turned three years old. Matthew would always take off in the early morning and stay away until after his bedtime. Eddy figured that Matthew went to either Lucas’ house or Seth’s house. As his own father recalled, it was as if Matthew was eleven going on twenty-one. His parents couldn’t control Matthew and kicked him out several years later when Eddy was just eight years old. 

Their search for the pool room led to them finding a yoga room, a room full of exercise equipment, and an extra bathroom. “We’re getting close, Sockhead,” Eddy stated, “I can smell the chlorine.” Eddy opened the next door and spotted the edge of the pool. “It’s over here, Sockhead!” Eddy announced. Eddy looked around and spotted a mesh storage cubes with swim trunks and towels. “It looks like we don’t even have to go skinny dipping.”

“Check the sizes on those to see if we would be able to fit them first,” Edd advised, not wanting a repeat of the time they wore his brother’s swimsuits for Nazz’s sprinkler party. “-And what do you mean you would’ve gone skinny dipping if there wasn’t swimsuits available? Do you know how indecent and discourteous that is for us as houseguests?”

“Mellow out! I came here to swim, not to get nagged to death.” Eddy started to strip out of his clothing.

“Eddy! What are you doing? There are three grown men in this house not including the hired staff.” Edd exclaimed.

“It’s just Matthew and his stupid friends.” Eddy snorted in amusement at Edd. He dropped trou and checked the swimsuits. 

“Looks like there are no swimsuits in my size. Too bad!” Clad in only his boxers, Eddy made a beeline towards the pool and quickly jumped in. “Geronimo!”

“Why do I even bother?” Edd checked the same pile of clothes that Eddy haphazardly thrown around. After neatly folding the swim trunks that Eddy left, Edd found a pair of trunks that fit him and a jersey that would hide the hickey that Matthew gave him. Eddy was already lying on his back in what Edd liked to refer as an “indolent backstroke” where Eddy would only kick his feet and move his arms once in a while to stay afloat. 

Edd quickly changed in the extra bathroom Eddy and he found when they were searching for the pool room. Thankful that he always carried around a box of plastic hair nets, he took off his hat and equipped one of the plastic hair nets. After examining his appearance in the mirror, he decided that he was ready to swimming. The hair net covered the hickey that Eddy had given and the jersey covered every inch of his shoulders.

OwO OwO OwO OwO OwO

The three men in the entertainment room laughed at Lucas recalling a memory from their wayward youth. Seth and Lucas were unable to contain their chuckles. It was just one of those times where the three would meet up to catch up on the latest affairs of their pals and reminisce about the past. Matthew couldn’t help but get the feeling that whatever was between Seth, Lucas, and him was only superficial. Sure, they have been friends since grade school, but beyond that they were former scamming buddies and now drinking buddies. Matthew wouldn’t jump in front of a bullet to save either of them nor did he care about what Lucas and Seth thought of him. Such was their friendship.

“So Mattie, you’re staying the night, right?” Lucas asked in a sickly sweet tone.

Matthew glared at him, “I’ve got plans later on tonight, Lucas.”

“You’re currently unemployed and living at your parents’ house. What plans could you possibly have that are so important?” Lucas asked with a twisted smirk.

Matthew groaned in annoyance, “I have plans later on tonight with the kid in the sockhat, so sorry about your luck!”  
Seth rolled his eyes, “I fucking knew it!”

“Fuck the kid here. I don’t give a flying fuck. It’s not like I’m going to be the one cleaning the bed sheets anyway. There’s plenty of alcohol in this place to keep you content for the night and a private room that is probably swankier than most hotel rooms in this fucking state.” Lucas knew how to coax Matthew into doing what he wanted and Matthew hated him for it.

“Okay, fine.” Matthew caved, “I’ll stay here for the night. Damn, is it that horrible to stay in a big mansion by yourself for days on end?”

“You have no idea,” Lucas turned to Seth, “are you going to be staying here too for the night?”

“No thank you, I’ve got work in the morning and my wife is expecting me back in time for dinner,” Seth sneered when he heard Matthew making a whipping noise, “Shut up, Mattie!”

“I’m going to need you and Lucas to do something for me before you go back to your dungeon master – I mean wife,” Matthew grinned maliciously at his friend. 

“What a shock! What do you need now?” Seth folded his arms, not liking whatever Matthew had planned.

“I need my night to be uninterrupted by Pipsqueak. I mean it; I need Pipsqueak in bed for the rest of the night.” Matthew explained. “I need you two to make sure that happens and done in a way that Pipsqueak would not expect a thing. I would need you two to serve him strong alcohol throughout the day. I don’t even care if you two have to hold him down and pour alcohol down his throat. Just make sure you serve him enough alcohol to get an elephant drunk or Seth’s mom.” Lucas snickered at the comment, but Seth was more interested in what the rest of the plan might be if there was anything else to the plan than about the wisecrack regarding his mother. Matthew continued, “If you guys have to; mix roofies into his drink or give him a Dahmer cocktail.”

A Dahmer cocktail was a term they used for alcohol laced with sedatives. Had Seth been a different man, he would have disagreed with the whole notion and refused to even take part in the whole ridiculous plan. However, he left his dignity back his youth and took part in whatever Matthew told him to do. “Fine, I’ll help you get Pipsqueak drunk while I’m here, but I’m not drugging the damn kid. That whole idea is twisted even for you!”

“I know how much of a pussy you are, Seth. It’ll be alright,” Matthew cooed mockingly, “where are Pipsqueak and Princess anyway?”

“Princess?” Lucas asked, confused, “Oh, umm, I honestly have no idea. We’ll have to split up to look for them. Seth can check the left side of building where the theater room and exercise rooms are at and Matthew, you and I will check the right side where the pool room and extra dining room is at.”

A/N: Remember loyal viewers, whatever Bro does in the story, do the complete opposite! Though I’m sure most of you are mature enough to know that already.


	18. Pool Water

Edd dived into the deep water of the pool. He opened his eyes underwater and saw Eddy’s feet in the distance. There was something so tranquil about being underneath the water’s surface. He could only hear Eddy’s distorted voice above the surface, but he could not hear what his friend was saying. The water around him was so crystal clear. He began to swim around the bottom of the pool, heading nowhere in particular. He felt like a dolphin or another ocean creature just swimming around peacefully without a care in the world.

His swimming was interrupted by his need for oxygen. He swam towards the surface. The light reflected off the waves. He swam towards the light and took a deep breath once his head was above the surface. As soon as his head reached the surface, he felt a beach ball hit him in the head. He quickly turned and seen Eddy cackling.

“Really, Eddy? Already resorting to puerile pranks?” Edd shook his head and grinned, “I hope you are on your toes this afternoon. I could easily Immerse that head of yours when you least expect it.”

“Is that supposed to scare me? Should I remind you of who always get picked last in gym class?” Eddy taunted playfully. 

“Look who’s talking, Mr. Second-to-last!” Edd taunted back. Much to Eddy’s and Edd’s chagrin, they always got picked last for gym class. Even Plank, a piece of wood, got picked over them. Edd was out of shape and Eddy was just lazy. No surprises there. However, gym class was a constant cruel reminder of just how out of shape and weak he was.

Eddy circled around him, instigating him. “Don’t even think about it, Eddy.” Edd warned. 

“Don’t think of doing what?” Eddy asked slyly.

“You know damn well what,” Edd shot back, crossing his arms. 

Eddy chuckled, “You’re paranoid, Sockhead. I wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“Resorting to using clichéd idioms in hopes that I would lower my guard, Eddy?” Edd teased, “You’re going to have to do more than that if you expect to catch me unguarded. Though I doubt your short attention span would allow you the opportunity to catch someone like me off-guard.”

Edd dodged a couple of attempts that Eddy made at trying to dunk his head underwater. Edd was sure that they were both splashing water over the edge of the pool. However, Edd was too focused on Eddy’s movements to check the floor by the pool. Edd could make out the artificial waterfall Eddy spotted earlier in the distance. 

Then Eddy charged straight at him. Edd laughed playfully at Eddy’s foolishness. The most foolish thing a person could do in a fight, even in a play fight like Edd and Eddy were having, is to charge towards an opponent unprepared. It ruins the element of surprise. Edd figured out a plan on how he could dunk Eddy’s head underwater. If he jumped on Eddy’s back as the other teen got close to him, he could easily get the upper hand in the situation and dunk Eddy’s head beneath the water’s surface.

As Eddy got close to him, Edd put his plan into action and jumped on Eddy’s back, grasping Eddy’s shoulders tightly. “I commend your efforts, Eddy, but it seems that I have the upper hand in this situation.”

“Is that so, Sockhead?” Eddy asked in a matter that caused Edd to become suspicious. “You didn’t count on one thing.”

“What’s that?” Edd asked.

“This!” Eddy exclaimed as he suddenly grabbed Edd’s butt.

“Eddy!” Edd exclaimed as he squirmed. To his shock, Eddy dropped his weight on him, dunking him underneath the water. Edd had no chance to catch his breath and breathed in some of the water, causing him to get a brain freeze. When Eddy lifted himself up from the water, Edd pulled his head to the surface. “That was a dirty underhanded trick, Eddy!”

“You never said anything about not using underhanded moves, Sockhead. Looks like I win again!” Eddy boasted. Eddy’s grin slowly turned into a scowl when he seen his brother and Lucas entered the room. Seth came into the room a couple of minutes later. “Looks like our pool time got wrecked. The senior citizen’s club decided to visit.”

“I think we still can swim with them in room,” Edd suggested.

“Get a clue, Sockhead!” Eddy retorted, swimming towards the pool ladder. “They would hold our heads underneath the water and laugh like fucking hyenas until we pass out.”

“Oh dear,” Edd shudder and swam towards the pool ladder, “wait for me, Eddy!” As they got out, Edd announced, “I’m going to get changed. I’ll see you in a few.”

“Alright,” Eddy responded, “just hurry back.”

“It shouldn’t take me too long,” Edd replied.

“Don’t you two brats want to swim some more?” Seth asked, “this might be the last time either one of you two swim in a pool like that.”

“Go blow yourself, Seth!” Eddy shot back, “I’m not that stupid!”

OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWO

Edd closed the bathroom door behind him. He realized his mistake much too late. He had forgotten to bring a towel to go swimming. He didn’t even know where Lucas kept the towels. He would assume that Lucas kept them in one of the bathrooms, but there were probably at least ten bathrooms in the entire place and Lucas’ house was like a maze. They certainly were not in the place that he was getting changed at, because Edd did not find even one towel when he had searched the bathroom.

Edd started to change out of his jersey and swimsuit. The plastic hairnet was the next thing to be taken off. He was thankful that he was not facing the mirror at the moment. With the events from the last several days, he was in no mood to see the scar on his head or the hickeys on his body. He put his beanie back on when he heard the door open and close. He rushed to cover himself using the clothes that he was about to put on. 

Unsurprisingly, his intruder was none other than Matthew. Edd rolled his eyes at the sight of the man. Knowing Matthew’s perverse habits by now, the navy blue-haired ex-carnie probably barged in on him to watch him undress. “I’m not decent. Please remove yourself from the bathroom so that I can finish getting dressed.”

“No can do, Princess.” Matthew replied in a singsong voice, “I came to watch you.”

Edd blushed, “All I’m doing is getting changed!”

“Not anymore,” Matthew stated with a wicked glint in his eyes. He pulled the clothes that Edd used to cover himself with and set them near the sink. 

“What do you mean?” Edd asked, hoping that Matthew would just let him change.

“Face the mirror,” Matthew commanded, gruffly.

Edd’s head started to swim. What was the man planning on doing now? He turned towards the mirror and caught his reflection. Instead of looking scared or worried like he would imagine himself looking like, his face was neutral. His body was still damp with pool water. He still had hickeys that were given to him by Matthew and Eddy. To his horror, his body was also starting to betray him. His cock started to stiffen just from being alone and naked in the same room as Matthew. 

The twenty-four year old chucked quietly. “Looks like your body is honest about what it truly wants. You’re so naughty, Sweetheart!” Matthew starting massaging his back as Edd watched him from the mirror. Edd felt Matthew’s nails graze his skin a few times as Matthew continued. The caresses felt strangely pleasurable and he let a moan escape past his throat. “Your muscles are extremely tense,” Matthew commented as he continued the massage. Edd was suspicious of what Matthew was up to. He knew for a fact that the elder was neither selfless nor kind enough to give someone else a massage without getting something from it in return. 

Edd’s suspicions were confirmed when Matthew started to knead his backside. Edd squeaked when he felt Matthew’s rough hands grab onto his thighs and give them the same treatment as his back. His thighs were extremely sensitive and he was becoming even more erect from the man’s action. He dared to glance at his own reflection in the mirror and saw that his cheeks were starting to flush. 

“Are you going to try to sodomize me in this bathroom?” Edd asked nervously. The man did say that they would only have sex later on, right?

“What? Are you that impatient and can’t wait until later on tonight, baby?” Matthew chortled, “Tell you what, if you ask real nicely, I’ll give you a treat and get rid of your little problem for you.”

Edd sighed. He knew that he would not be able to go out with his current problem. However, that did not mean that he would succumb to Matthew’s perversion either. “I can handle it myself.” Edd replied, bluntly.

“So you want to put on a show for me. I don’t mind, because that would be so fucking erotic.” Matthew purred. Edd could not win when it came to that guy. Matthew strolled over to the toilet and sat down, “You might want to get started before your boyfriend tries to look for you.”

Edd groaned and dropped down to his knees. He started with slow and even strokes. It wasn’t his first time masturbating, but it was his first time doing it in front of someone. From his few “self-service” sessions, he knew what felt good to him and how to lower his voice so that nobody could hear him. He always considered the act dirty before and after he took care of his needs. Compared to what he was doing at the moment, all of those times he pleasured himself alone in his room seemed innocent. He reached over for the lotion bottle on the counter and poured some on his appendage to lubricate it, not missing a beat. He gently teased the head a few times during his strokes.

The cold tiles of the floor made Edd shiver as he laid down on the floor. His pace started getting quicker the more that he started to get into his fantasy. It was like the usual fantasies he had involving Eddy. He fantasized that Eddy took him into his mouth by the pool. 

Matthew’s dirty, erotic whispers to him interrupted his fantasy. Instead of halting his stroking, he continued as Matthew whispered more dirty things to him. His legs started to stiffen as he imagined Matthew roughly taking him like the man had been threatening to do all day. His lust-addled mind did not care that Matthew was the current focus of his fantasy or that said man was in the same room with him. He just wanted to get off and his release was closely approaching. After a few more strokes, he released into his hand and onto his stomach, moaning out Matthew’s name as he climaxed.

He laid on the cold floor motionless, completely spent. His heart thudded in his chest as he felt the afterglow of his orgasm. He crossed his legs as his cock softened, to preserve whatever modesty he had left of the situation – at least until he got up to get dressed. Right now, he really had no energy to wash himself of his own ejaculate.

When Matthew advanced towards him, he quickly sat up. Edd’s whole body still felt like jello, especially his legs. Matthew crouched down next to him. Feeling subconscious from Matthew’s roaming across his body, Edd folded his arms across his chest and kept his legs crossed. “That was pretty hot! You seemed like you were really into it. Could it be because I was in the room?” 

“-Or it could just be your overinflated ego causing you to delude yourself again.” Edd rebuffed Matthew as he stood up shakily. His legs still felt like they were a gelatin mold. 

“I very much doubt that,” Matthew snorted. He wiped away the extra cum on Edd’s stomach with his hand, causing Edd to writhe from his touch. 

“Why did you do that?” Edd watched in disgust as Matthew brought that same hand to his lips and lapped up the semen. “That’s disgusting!” Edd screeched.

“You didn’t think so when I sucked you off, Princess.” Matthew smirked lasciviously. “It’s just like that time, almost. Both times, I got to taste your little swimmers in the end.”

“Could you please allow me to get washed up and changed? I don’t want to discuss this any further!” Edd turned on his heel and stomped towards the sink. His face was the same color as a tomato.

“Alright,” Matthew walked towards the door. “Just remember that we both have plans for this evening. See you when you’re dressed, Sweetheart!” Matthew exited out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. With the twenty-four year old gone, Edd could finally get dressed in peace. After scrubbing his body, Edd quickly changed into his clothes and exited out of the bathroom. 

Edd looked in the pool room first, but there was no sign of Eddy or anyone else. He headed towards the entertainment and heard Eddy’s voice coming from the same room that he was about to check next. Edd shook his head at how loud Eddy could be sometimes. When he entered the room, the first thing that caught his eye was Eddy gulping down a bottle of Jack Daniels. Edd groaned in disapproval of his friend’s actions. The next thing he noticed was that Seth was the only one in the room with Eddy. Lucas was nowhere to be found and Matthew disappeared to another part of the house.

“Where the hell have you been Sockhead?” Eddy asked, “You’ve been gone for about fifteen minutes! Seth’s been treating me as if I’m five years old since everyone disappeared.”


	19. Daddy Issues

Seth stood outside of the door of the entertainment room with a scowl on his face. When Lucas invited him over to hang out, he expected to drink a few beers, bullshit with Lucas, and rip on Matthew for losing his job, the easiest job on the planet in Seth’s opinion. What he did not expect was to be a pawn in Matthew’s plan to chase underage tail and to babysit Matthew’s kid brother. 

Right now, he had to play guard while Eddy changed back into his clothes. Seth was not sure how that kid expected to change back into his clothes right away, since Eddy went swimming in his boxers, but he’ll probably find out once Eddy gets done. “This fucking sucks a lot of dick! I just want to go back home to Nancy.” Seth grumbled under his breath.

Eddy rapped on the door once he was done. Seth opened the door with a scowl on his face. Eddy sneered back at the man. What the hell did he do? Eddy walked over to the couch to sit down and wait for Edd to return. Seth sat at the table and returned to his game of darts, hitting a bull’s-eye twice after failing a couple of times.

Eddy eyed the bar again. It appeared that the alcoholic bottles that he left in the theater room were returned to their original spot, how strange. The longer he waited for Edd to return, the longer that he dwelled on what he had seen on the videotape. He debated himself if he should ask Seth who the person was. After debating himself for several minutes, Eddy decided that it probably would not hurt to ask the man. “Uh Seth,” He silently asked the question a bit hesitant over the response he might get, “Who was the red-haired guy in the video? The one that was tied to the monkey bars in one of the videotapes Lucas has?”

Seth did not seem angered or startled by the question. The fact that Seth remained nonchalant about the question was a bit eerie, “He’s an old classmate of Matthew’s, Lucas’, and mine. He’s nobody that you need to worry about.”

“Why? Is he dead?” Eddy asked feeling a bit spooked that Seth did not want to talk about Matthew’s mysterious bully victim.

Seth gave him a funny look, “Fuck, kid. How much of that crime drama TV bullshit do you rot your brain with? The guy in the video is still alive, as far as I’m aware of. I lost contact with him after high school graduation.”

“Oh, it’s just weird how you refuse to talk about him. You got to be leaving something out,” Edd remarked.

Seth just shook his head and absentmindedly fiddled around with the dart in his hand, “You’re better off just dropping the subject, you little ankle-biting brat. It’s not my place to tell you who the guy is. Matthew probably would skin you alive if you bring the guy up to him and Lucas would tell Matthew instantly if you go to him. Some shit is better left alone.”

“Oh,” Eddy huffed. Seth was not any help when it came to finding out the identity of the mysterious guy. Eddy yawned in boredom. Most people would assume that it was impossible to be bored inside of a mansion that probably was the same size as the cul-de-sac, but it can be when a person does not know the layout of the home and that was the situation with Eddy. 

He turned towards the liquor cabinet. Having a drink seems like a good idea right now and there were so many choices too. Several brands of the same kinds of alcohol, it was like walking into a bar and everything in stock being on the house. He did not even know where to begin. Might as well start with a bottle of Jack Daniels and work towards the harder liquor. 

As Eddy gulped down the alcohol, Seth cleared his throat, “isn’t that stuff bad for someone who probably has not even lost his v-card yet?”

“Go to hell, Seth,” Eddy spat, taking another drink of his beverage, “I’ll drink whatever the hell I want, so go have sex with yourself!”

“Fine, you want to ruin your own liver, that’s up to you,” Seth rolled his eyes, “– but let me tell you about what happened to my piece of shit dad when I was a kid.”

“Do all of you fucks have daddy issues?” Eddy asked, annoyed, “I don’t know about Lucas, but I know that Matthew hates Dad with a passion.”

“Pretty much, Lucas is waiting for his own dad to drop dead for reasons that I can’t tell you, except that Lucas’ old man views him as “bad genes,” because Lucas is unmotivated and has diabetes. Lucas is still pissed at his dad for remarrying.” Seth explained, “Enough about that, I bet you’re wondering about my dad.”

“Not really,” Eddy groaned, taking another drink of whiskey, “I still remember you shooting up drugs at my house when I was little. That’s all I need to know about your life story.”

“Too bad, you little shit,” Seth glowered, “you’re going to hear it anyway. Anyway, my dad was an alcoholic even before my parents got married and they had gotten married pretty young too. It just got worse the longer that my parents stayed married. He would get drunk and beat up my mom every single day. After my third birthday, I also started getting beat up by him for sticking up for my mom. Matthew and Lucas even witnessed my old man beating the fuck out of me once when we were still children. One day when I was about eleven, my dad had been sleeping in his car drunk and set himself on fire. He was too drunk to even put himself out, supposedly. The worse part of it was that I was happy when I heard the news that he was gone. No more getting beaten over insignificant shit. No more seeing bruises on my mom -”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about what happened with your dad and all, but that’s not going to change my mind about alcohol,” Eddy defiantly rebuffed Seth. Eddy turned away from Seth. He did not want to further witness Seth’s anguish over his past. Seeing the guy’s face tighten in a mix of sorrow and anger was enough for Eddy. 

“I wasn’t telling you that to try to change your mind, brat! I just wanted you to listen,” Seth huffed, his face returning back to normal, “I bet if it was about your brother, you would be more curious.”

“What about my brother?” Eddy asked, curiously. He turned back towards Seth. 

“Really?” Seth snorted, “all right, what could I tell you that you don’t already know? Do you that Matthew is bisexual?”

“What else is new? It took me a couple of days to accept it, but now I figure that it’s no big deal.” Eddy replied.  
“Do you know the type of guys that Matthew usually went after?” Seth questioned him. 

Eddy raised an eyebrow. “Do I want to know?” He was more worried about why Edd was taking so long to get changed than what his brother liked to stick his dick into. Edd has been away for about ten minutes now. Eddy wondered what his friend could be doing. He thought of the possibility that Edd could be also cleaning up before he got dressed to rid himself of any microorganisms that he could’ve gotten from the pool. Knowing Edd, Eddy considered that a good possibility.

“Perhaps,” Seth responded subtly, “Matthew really didn’t have a type of woman that he chased after, he went after all kinds of women, but he did have a type of guy that he would get a hard-on for, both figuratively and literately,” Eddy grimaced in disgust over the thought. What his brother considered sexually arousing was not something he liked to think about. 

Seth continued, “He hounded after wimpy-looking, mousy guys that probably weighed as much as a twig. The type of guys that you would expect not to put up much of a fight when Matthew pursued them. From what I heard, your brother would pursue them endlessly until they agreed to bend over for him. He bagged three of guys like that before his old man kicked him out and several guys like that afterward that I know of. Mattie is a horndog. If he sees a man or woman he wants to bed, he’ll do it and won’t give a damn about the consequences, whether they were married, jailbait, or god knows what else. That’s just how your brother is.”

“Bleh! What does any of that have to do with me?” Eddy made a face, “Trust me, I wished I didn’t have to hear any of that.”  
Seth snickered, “well, it’s just something to think about.”

“Trust me, I don’t wanna think about it. I think I’m going to have nightmares for the rest of my life. Thanks a lot, Seth! I don’t think I’ll be able to get hard ever again!” Eddy pouted as Seth cackled at him. The description Seth gave him did sound a lot like the guy that was tied up in the video. Did Matthew have a sexual relationship with the guy in the video? Eddy still could not recall how he remembered the guy. He had to have met the guy in the past, but when and where did he even meet the guy from the video?

Eddy continued drinking Jack Daniels as he remained in his seat. He did not want to discuss his brother any further with Seth. The things that Seth had told him so far were not things that Eddy wanted to think about. He took swigs out of the bottle in his hand to pass the time. After several minutes of silence, he heard the door open. He turned and seen that Edd at the door. Edd was dressed in his casual clothes and was looking around the room.

“Where the hell have you been Sockhead?” Eddy asked, “You’ve been gone for about fifteen minutes! Seth’s been treating me as if I’m five years old since everyone disappeared.”

“I’m sorry, Eddy,” Edd apologized, “I was getting dressed and washed up as fast as I could.”

Eddy found it extremely odd that Edd would not look him in the eyes and was acting a bit funny. Eddy brushed it off. Edd was probably still sore about Eddy dunking him in the pool or the fact that Eddy and Ed got stoned the night before. Edd could also still be skittish over the scuffle between him and Matthew. Whatever it was, Eddy was sure that it would pass eventually. His stomach began to rumble. He was going to need to find out where Lucas keeps his food.

“Whatever,” Eddy dismissed, “Let’s find some grub. I’m starving over here. We’re still underage. What kind of cruel adult doesn’t even ask two teenagers if they’re hungry?”

“I doubt melodramatics are going to work, Eddy,” Edd chastised his friend, “I’m sure if we locate Lucas and ask him, he would consider getting us some dinner.”

“Hey, drama queen!” Seth addressed Eddy, “there’s a smorgasbord in the dining room full of food on chafers that Lucas can’t eat. His stepmom ordered the stuff for him as a cruel joke. I’m sure he wouldn’t give a damn if you two consumed that burden for him.”

“Ah thanks,” Eddy replied, “so where’s the food?”

“It’s in the dining room,” Seth replied, “It’s the next room on the right past the pool room.”

Eddy threw his arm around Edd’s shoulders, “C’mon Sockhead! Lucas’ big, bad burden is not going to eat itself.”

“I hope you know that I’m only agreeing to this, because I have not consumed anything at all today,” Edd muttered. He then turned to Seth, “thank you, sir! I’m grateful that you told you us.”

“I haven’t eaten anything since last night either. Let’s go, Sockhead!” Eddy once again dragged him down the hallway until they reached the room that Seth told them about. Edd could smell the food from behind the door and his mouth started to water. Eddy opened the door and led him inside. 

The dining room they were led into was a warm beige color and contained, yet, another chandelier that hung above the dining room table. Every single piece of furniture in the room was made from rosewood, which included the dining table and chairs, the buffet table, and the large cabinet with various fine china sets inside. A large painting of a champagne bottle and grapes hung on the wall above the buffet table. A vase filled with a bouquet of baby blue gym socks stood in the middle of the table. Of course, the flowers in the vase were fake flowers. Underneath the table, a Persian rug sat in the middle of the floor.

“What’s with the pans? Did Lucas hold some kind of event here?” Eddy asked pointing towards the buffet table.

“No Eddy. Those are chafing dishes; they’re used to keep food warm without the use of an oven or microwave,” Edd explained, “Its name comes from the French word-“

Eddy quickly silenced Edd by covering Edd’s mouth with his hand, “I didn’t ask for a complete dictionary definition for it, Double D. I just want to eat.”

Suddenly a voice appeared behind them, causing them both to jolt, “your friend’s right, you know. Pity that you two had to ask Seth for food, I must be a terrible host not to offer you something to eat. Go ahead and eat until you’re both content.” Lucas was the one behind them. Both of the teens shuddered. Edd and Eddy both considered Lucas creepy, but they would never voice their opinion of the guy.


	20. Locked Doors

“Double D, I have a dilemma,” Eddy stated, staring at the food as Edd lifted up the metal lids from the chafing dishes.  
Edd expressed his gratitude to Lucas for the dinner and faced Eddy after he was done talking to the brunette adult, “What is it, Eddy?”

“That triple chocolate cake looks so good, but if I eat it, I’ll lose my devilishly good-looking figure,” Eddy boasted, waggling his eyebrows and flexing his muscles – or lack thereof. Edd covered his mouth and let out a silent giggle.

“Well don’t eat it then and eat something else,” Edd flipped up a few more lids, “donuts, trifles, éclairs, chocolate pie slices, cheesecake, and chocolate tarts? Well, bon appétit, I suppose.” Edd decided on eating a trifle and a slice of cheesecake for dinner. He grabbed a plate and a fork from the end of the buffet table. Edd noticed when he gingerly grabbed a trifle bowl that both the chafing pans were not on and that the pastries were bought from a bakery located within the big city, as indicated by the labels on the plastic dishes that the desserts sat in. Lucas’ stepmom did not even bother to take the dessert out of plastic containers before putting them in the chafing pans. 

Edd and Eddy ate in silence until Lucas left the room. Edd stared down at Eddy’s plate and, of course, Eddy’s plate was filled with chocolate dishes, despite his complaint that he might lose his figure. “Geez, I think Lucas’ stepmom is trying to put him into a diabetic coma, look at all of these desserts,” Eddy pointed out the obvious before taking a bite of a chocolate tart. After he was done chewing and swallowing the tart, he started whispering to Edd. “Also, I found out some things about the guy in the video from Seth.”

“What did you find out?” Edd asked. He had serious doubts over Seth offering Eddy any information freely. What was the man’s motivation for doing so? 

Eddy continued whispering, “The guy in the video was a classmate of theirs and is still alive.”

“Well, that’s a relief about the guy being amongst the living and all,” Edd stated. He hoped with that bit of information, he could finally get bit of closure and forget what was on the tape. However, something at the back of his mind was telling him that there was more to the story.

“I need to know more about the guy though,” Eddy stated, “we should search for Lucas’ room and look for a yearbook or something. I bet we would find something that would tell us who the guy is.”

“I honor the fact that you are concerned over the mysterious individual, but we cannot just rummage through Lucas’ belongings for a clue on the individual,” Edd protested.

“Then how do we find out who the guy is?” Eddy asked, “Huh, smart guy?”

“Look, Kevin’s cousin, Sasha, knows your brother personally, correct?” Edd explained, “We could ask Kevin if he would be willing to tell us the whereabouts of his cousin. That would be a much more logical choice than risking Matthew getting suspicious and risk getting physically abused by him. If Matthew sworn his own friends to secrecy over the man, for whatever reason, he’s not going to be too thrilled over us trying to uncover the truth.”

“Fine, we’ll ask Shovel Chin once we get out of here,” Eddy agreed, reluctantly. He still had no idea if Kevin was still upset over his brother running over his fence and harming Nazz. If Kevin was, that would mean that Kevin might try to fight them again like what happened a few days previous. However, if it meant getting rid of the sick feeling in his gut that he had since he seen that video, he was willing to do anything.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

After dinner, Eddy and Edd both strolled down the hallway. They both did not dare to venture any further in case they both ended up lost. They had seen perhaps three maids in the past hour, one carrying cleaning supplies. The usual topics that came up in their conversations were Ed, what kind of scams they could pull off – which they still could not come up with something new that was both plausible and legal, and on Eddy’s least favorite subject; what they both were going to do when school started back up. Eddy was stumbling while drinking more from his Jack Daniels bottle while insisting that he was not drunk in the slightest.

They both ended up looking into the entertainment room where they could hear singing along with instrumental music. Edd had to admit, the music had a haunting, seductive trance to it. Too bad the music was also paired with Lucas’ amateurish vocals singing along to the words on the screen. Karaoke might mean “empty orchestra” in Japanese, but it also probably means “tone deaf” in English. The screen, which Edd had not noticed in the room earlier, indicated that the song Lucas was singing was Duran Duran’s “Save a Prayer.” Edd had heard of the music group that sung the song, but he had not heard the song before. 

“Ugh, I’m out of here,” Eddy groaned, covering his ears, “the last thing I need this evening is to hear three assholes who sound like a dying moose when they sing.”

Edd chuckled at the comment. Despite Eddy’s protests, they stayed for a little while longer on the sidelines. After Lucas’ song was over, he handed the microphone to Matthew. After shuffling through the songs, Matthew finally picked one and started up the music. The song he chosen was Danzig’s “Mother.”

Eddy led Edd away from the entertainment and they were back to wandering the halls aimlessly. Edd was not sure where exactly they were after they slowed down. Eddy was dragging him too fast for him to comprehend his surroundings. Now he was staring at an unfamiliar hallway with Eddy opening random doors until he found one. 

“Over here, Sockhead,” Eddy’s voice was slurring due to how much alcohol was in his system. 

Edd had no idea what Eddy found so interesting about the room he picked out, but he would soon find out. The room was actually a nice room. Maybe it was a mediation room of some sort? He was not sure what else to call the room. A bunch of throw pillows lay in the middle of the carpeted floor. One wall of the room was just one large window pane overlooking rushing water, most likely from the waterfall in the pool room. Two large bamboo plants stood against one of the other walls in the room.

On the opposite end of the room was a large fish tank filled with adult-sized pterophyllum or as they’re normally called freshwater angelfish. The fish were quite beautiful and seemed well taken care of. There was one fish that was different though. One lone plecostomus, or suckerfish as it’s normally called, had its lips pressed against the glass, almost looking like it was kissing the glass in front of it. It was more than likely bought to clean the algae in the tank. 

“This seems like the perfect place to hang out in,” Eddy replied, collapsing into the throw pillows.

Edd nodded and took a seat next to his friend, “I agree. You have picked an excellent room to relax in. The room is so well decorated and even has a sort of Zen atmosphere to it.”

“Yeah?” Eddy put his arm around Edd’s shoulders. Edd looked up and was caught by Eddy’s gaze. One look into Eddy’s dark eyes alone was enough for Edd to melt. The feeling of Eddy’s arm around him added to the safe, warm feeling that Edd had whilst in Eddy’s presence.

Edd moaned when he felt Eddy’s lips press against his own. The only sounds he could hear in the room was rushing water from the waterfall behind the window pane and Eddy’s heartbeat – or was it his own? He opened his mouth to let Eddy inside of the moist cavern. Eddy took his cue and slid his smooth tongue into his friend’s mouth.

After several minutes of their tongues dueling, Edd felt Eddy’s lips and tongue leave his mouth to trace along his jaw all the way down to his neck. Edd barely even noticed that Eddy was now on top of him. His mind was caught up in the pleasure of the act to think of anything else. He never wanted the feeling to end and he could tell that Eddy did not want it to either.

He moaned loudly in surprise when he felt Eddy pinching both of his nipples. He heard Eddy lightly chuckle in shameless carnal delight. Though it was a bit painful, feeling Eddy’s hands caressing his nipples and his chest afterward dulled the pain into absolute bliss. Eddy caressed him all over his body. The other teen’s caresses felt like silk against his soft skin.

Suddenly he felt Eddy groping on his clothed crotch. Another moan escaped from Edd’s lips when he felt Eddy’s hand against his crotch. Edd reached over to Eddy’s crotch, gingerly grabbing it and gave him the same treatment he was receiving. His actions were hesitant and unsure. He had no idea what Eddy liked and his only sexual experience had been with Matthew. Not to mention that he was still technically a virgin. 

Eddy nuzzled against his neck and whispered huskily, “Does that feel good, Sockhead?” Edd mewed as a response to Eddy’s question. Eddy removed his hand from Edd’s pelvic area and slid his hand underneath the waistband of both Edd’s pants and underwear. It was at that moment that the reality of the situation hit Edd like a ton of bricks. He was taking advantage of an inebriated person. Eddy was stumbling on the way over to the room before their intense make out session and Edd could clearly smell the alcohol on Eddy’s breath. Not to mention Eddy would forget this time like he did the last couple of times. Edd felt Eddy stroking his cock with even strokes.

“Eddy, stop!” Edd had to stop it. He removed his hand from Eddy’s crotch. He also removed Eddy’s hand from his cock and lightly pushed Eddy away.

“What?” Eddy tried to kiss Edd again, but was pushed away.

“Eddy, I mean it!” Edd said with a serious tone. “We can’t do this.”

“Why not? Y-you liked it just a second ago!” Eddy stated. The slurring of his voice became more apparent. 

“I’m taking advantage of an intoxicated individual, Eddy! What I did is akin to the common sleazy criminal that has sexual relations with unconscious victims that are under the influence of Flunitrazepam!”

“What? No! C’mon Sockhead! Can’t you realize that I want you to `take advantage’ of me and continue from where we left off!” Eddy argued.

“You’re too drunk to consent!” Edd shot back, “you can barely stand up without wobbling!”

“I don’t need you to treat me like damn child, you fucking cocktease!” Eddy yelled, standing up, “You don’t want to be with me, that’s fine! Just stop acting like you want me so bad and turn me away when things start getting hot and heavy. I’m out of here!” Eddy turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

“Eddy, come back here!” Edd yelled at the door. Eddy did not return to the room. Edd sat staring at the rushing water, completely stunned by Eddy’s outburst. He just wanted to do the right thing, not sexually tease Eddy. He sat in complete silence for several minutes in order to get his thoughts in order and wait for his semi-erection to go down. Eddy’s words were a bit hurtful, but the guy was not even in control of his own raging hormones at the moment let alone his temper. Things would return back to normal in the morning, they always do.

Edd decided to finally stand up and look for his friend. The door was locked either from Eddy locking it when he stormed out of the room. Edd unlocked the door and went to look for Eddy. He hoped that Eddy was not causing a scene. He continued walking, hoping to find Eddy. 

“What happened with you and your boyfriend, sweetheart?” A pair of hands roughly grabbed his hips and Edd was pulled into the, thankfully, clothed crotch of the last person he wanted to see at the moment, “Pipsqueak looked pretty steamed when he entered the entertainment room. He even started snapping out at Seth and Lucas before I left the room.”

Edd pulled himself away from Matthew and scowled, “nothing happened! I got to go check on Eddy!”

“Not so fast,” Matthew grabbed his wrist and pulled the teen back to him, “If you’re the one he’s pissed it, it probably would not be a good idea for him to see you for the rest of the night. He’ll be fine with Seth and Lucas for the night. Besides, Lucas had me show you to your room for the night.”

“Oh, that was kind of him, I suppose,” Edd pulled his hand away from Matthew, “I think I’ll spend the rest of my night in the room. There’s nothing in this lavish place that I would rather do than rest for the rest of the night.”

“My, aren’t you a cheery fucker,” Matthew mocked sarcastically, “If you insist. Follow me, I’ll show you actually where it is.”

Despite Edd’s better judgment, he followed the man down the hallway. All he wanted was to shut himself in a room for the night and wake up tomorrow, hoping that everything would go back to normal in the morning. He followed Matthew up a flight of steps to the upper level. The sight of chandeliers was starting to make him sick. They had to have been put in every single room and hallway in the entire house. There were so many of them. Matthew opened a door and held it open for him. 

Edd just ran inside and flopped down on the bed, covering his head with a pillow. Why did Eddy have to be so temperamental, especially when he was drinking? Why could Eddy not understand, even in his inebriated state, that he would not take advantage of him? Every time Edd made the most logical and moral choice in a situation that he could think of, it always seemed to be the wrong choice to make. He heard the door shut, but decided to ignore it. There was no way that Edd’s night could get any worse than it already was. 

“Ah fuck,” Matthew cursed, “looks like we’re both locked in for the night.” Matthew’s voice could not sound any more suspicious to Edd in that moment.


	21. Lost Virginity

“What?” Edd exclaimed, jumping out of the bed. He quickly turned towards the door. He quickly got up and rushed towards the door. He tried turning it with no luck. He looked above the handle and seen the number lock above the handle. He would not be able to get out without the pass code and the pass code could be anywhere from a 5 digit security pass code to a 10 digit security pass code, give or take. Edd turned to Matthew, “what’s the security pass code?”

“How the hell should I know? Lucas and his family are the only ones with the pass code. Looks like we both are going to be in here for a while.” Matthew shrugged.

“None of that makes any sense whatsoever. How were you able to open the door?” Edd asked with his arms folded across his chest.

“The door was not shut all the way.” Matthew stated. “Lucas probably won’t hear us until he or someone else tries to look for us tomorrow. Lucas’ room is on the other side of this section of the house and the maids probably went home for the night. They usually do around this time.”

“So we’re stuck here?” Edd glared at him sourly.

“Unless you can crack the code, sweetheart.” Matthew replied, “This is Lucas’ family’s panic room. It was made to hold three people inside during an emergency, such as a home invasion or if someone makes an attempt on Lucas’ old man’s life.”

“I could be pressing digits all night and still not be able to crack the code.” Edd muttered bitterly, “wait, they must a phone in here if this is a panic room.” 

Edd quickly glanced throughout the room. The room contained pearly white walls and grey carpeting. A large window overlooked the starry night and the forest behind Lucas house. The window was more than likely shatterproof, but Edd was not going to test that theory. Thankfully the room did not contain a chandelier. Instead two wall sconces sat over the California king-sized bed. A mini fridge sat near the wooden door leading into a bathroom and a microwave sat on top of the mini fridge. A long side table sat on the other end of the bathroom door. 

“Afraid not,” Matthew shook his head, “Lucas has those fancy cellular phones. They’re probably the only people in Peach Creek or Lemon Brook that has them.”

“Must be nice,” Edd muttered. He opened the door to the side table and squealed when he seen the contents, “Oh my lord!” His entire face was red with embarrassment.

Matthew snickered at him, “what did you find?”

“N-Nothing,” Edd stuttered.

“Nothing, huh?” Matthew raised an eyebrow and opened the drawer that Edd just shut and laughed. “Oh Princess, that is just priceless! You’re that embarrassed over seeing a few sex toys?”

“Look, those particular items just caught me unaware is all,” Edd blushed at being laughed at which caused Matthew to laugh even more at him. “I did not expect items like these to be in a panic room.”

“Lucas’ dad is an old pervert.” Matthew shrugged. “They’re also sex enhancers to spice up the bedroom. However, the only thing I would need to fuck someone and get them in the mood beforehand is lube.”

“Thanks for sharing that,” Edd muttered.

Matthew chuckled darkly, “you’ll find out soon from firsthand experience soon enough.”

“What on earth do you mean by that,” The man’s earlier threats reentered his mind again, “Oh dear! Matthew now is not the time for such a thing.”

“Now is the perfect time for such a thing,” Matthew retorted, removing his own button up shirt, black tank top, shoes, and socks. 

“We’re both alone and nobody would hear us going at it.” Edd blushed at the sight of Matthew’s naked chest. The man’s personality was absolutely repulsive, but the man was good-looking to him. Matthew proceeded to remove Edd’s shirt from his body, smirking as he pulled the shirt over Edd’s head. The next items to go were Edd’s pants and underwear. Edd sat there completely naked as he watched Matthew head towards the end table. The man pulled out a bottle of lube and uncapped it.

Edd watched as Matthew applied a generous amount of lube on his hand. The man spread the gallop of lube onto three of his fingers. Edd had no idea what the man was about to do. Edd kept his legs crossed in a fruitless attempt to preserve his modesty in the situation. He knew that Matthew was preparing to have sex with him and knew the rudimentary mechanics behind homosexual sex thanks to Eddy and his puerile taunts towards other classmates. However, he did not know much else about it, let alone why Matthew was lubing up his fingers.

“Alright, I need you to spread your legs for me.” Matthew commanded, approaching him.

Edd followed his command, curious about what the man had planned. His legs were spread as far as they could go. He really didn’t want to lose his virginity tonight, but he didn’t have much choice in the matter. Better to do what Matthew said than have Matthew abuse him. He did not want to get choke slammed again. 

Matthew crouched down between his legs. Edd closed his eyes, hoping that Matthew would just get it over with. A few seconds later, he felt a single digit push past the ring of muscles of his anus. He cried out from the intrusion. It felt like Matthew’s nails were scrapping his insides. He accidently kicked Matthew’s side as a quick reflex from the surprise intrusion. 

Matthew twisted Edd’s testicles with his free hand and growled lowly, “if you dare try that again, I’ll enter you without preparation and it would hurt a lot worse.”

“Preparation?” Edd yelped at the discomfort from both having his testicles grabbed at and the finger that was still inside him. “I apologize for my actions. It was only a quick reflex. I meant no harm by it.”

“That’s better,” The man cooed, “God, you’re naïve! I’m preparing you for when I put my dick inside of you. You’re extremely tight and I’m opening you up, so that I could fit in there.”

“Oh.” This was one area that Edd was not too familiar with. There was nothing about something like this in scientific textbooks or Sex Ed lectures. His first instincts were telling him to flee with his virginity still intact, but that was not an option. He was just going to have to let Matthew have his way with him no matter how awkward or uncomfortable the experience was going to be.

Matthew let go of his balls and resumed fingering him. The walls of Edd’s insides were being mapped out by Matthew’s forefinger. The lube that coated Matthew’s finger was quickly working its magic inside of Edd, making the experience less painful. Matthew’s fingernail was still pretty sharp though. He definitely needed to get them cut.

Matthew added another finger inside of him. The fingers scissored his lubricated insides. Edd felt Matthew brush something inside of him that had him moaning like an unabashed pervert. Matthew noticed his reaction and targeted that sensitive region. Edd wondered why that particular caused his eyes to roll back in pleasure and caused his cock to stiffen. He soon found his answer. “Looks like I found your prostate. Feels good, doesn’t it? I never took you for such an ass slut.”

“Just shut up!” Edd moaned. He was so consumed by pleasure from the act that he barely recognized Matthew adding a third finger inside his already over stimulated ass. Never in a million years would he ever admit to himself how much his traitorous body surprisingly enjoyed the simulation, even if his mind just wanted the vile act to end so that he could just rest for the night and wake up when Lucas unlocks the door for them. 

Edd subconsciously rocked into the man’s touch. Heat started to pool at the pit of his stomach as his prostate was mercilessly brushed against. Was the man trying to make him cum already? Edd bucked against Matthew’s hand, unable to control his actions. He felt his climax quickly approaching and the man was not stopping any time soon. His moans became a few decibels louder which elicited a few low chuckles from Matthew. “I told you that you were such an ass slut. You’re about to cum before I even stick it in you.” 

Edd chose to ignore Matthew’s words and focus on his impending orgasm. His toes curled signaling his release. After a few more seconds, his cum sprayed onto his stomach and he became dizzy from his orgasm. He felt something wet against his stomach. His eyes opened to mere slits and stared at the top of Matthew’s head. He wished Matthew would stop doing that. Matthew once again was lapping up the seminal fluid on Edd’s bare skin. Edd found the action just as disgusting as when Matthew did it earlier. It was an easy bet that Matthew had some kind of sexual fetish with consuming semen off of his partners.

Matthew got up and walked to another part of the room. Edd just lay on the bed as still as a corpse, feeling his heart racing from either carnal pleasure or apprehension from what is about to happen next. He heard Matthew open the cap from the bottle of lube again. Edd dared to open his eyes again and watched as Matthew stroked himself, pouring a bit of lube onto his erection between strokes. Both Matthew’s pants and boxers lay in a pool next to the man’s feet. If Matthew prepared him to be penetrated before, that would conclude that- Edd’s eyes widened. He was about to lose his virginity in the next several minutes and did not have a say over it.

Matthew swayed towards him like a predatory cat. “You actually look quite sexy like that, Girlfriend. I bet you just can’t wait for the main event, can’t you? Scoot over to the middle of the bed though. I’m not fucking you on the edge of the bed.” Edd did as he was instructed. He felt Matthew’s gaze upon his naked form and couldn’t help but feel subconscious about being the center of that man’s attention. He kept his legs spread and waited for the inevitable. Matthew then crawled onto the bed just an arms distance away from Edd. Matthew’s cock was engorged and he was obviously ready to take what he had been after for the last several days.

The next thing Edd felt was Matthew putting his legs up over the man’s own legs. To his surprise, the position was not terribly uncomfortable. Matthew’s cock prodded at his hole, teasingly. Edd tried to mentally prepare himself for what was going to happen next. Matthew’s thick cock penetrated the tight muscles of his ass and sheathed itself inside of him. Edd cried out in pain. Even with Matthew and Edd both being lubed up, the feeling of being stretched to fit the man’s girth was too much. The pain of penetration was unbearable. He tried to focus on anything else but the pain.

“You’re really tight,” Matthew moaned, “I guess that’ll change after a few rounds with me.” The 24 year old started to move in a slow and steady pace inside of Edd. The pain Edd experienced from the initial penetration was starting to recede when Matthew started to move. The only thing Edd could think of to do was to grasp unto Matthew’s hips and let Matthew continue.

“You feel so good inside. I should have fucked you sooner.” Matthew stated as he kept thrusting inside him, his thrusts gradually getting faster. Edd moaned as Matthew hit a particular bundle of nerves inside of him again. His moans just egged Matthew to go faster. “Ah fuck! I knew you wanted me so badly. Fuck, t-trust me; after this you’ll be craving my cock!” 

Matthew repeatedly slammed into Edd, whispering wicked things to the younger male. The pain that Edd felt before was replaced with pure pleasure. He was actually getting off to having Matthew fucking him so roughly. Edd quickly grabbed onto Matthew’s shoulders, his fingernails digging into Matthew’s shoulders creating crescent shaped marks on the pale skin of man’s shoulders. To Edd’s horror, he was reaching his climax for the third time that evening. He came onto his stomach with a shuddering gasp.

After Edd’s orgasm, Matthew still continued to thrust in him. Edd could tell that the man was reaching his own peak as well. Matthew thrust into Edd like a wild animal and his moans grew increasingly louder. After a few more minutes, or what felt like an eternity for Edd, Matthew thrust himself as deep as he get inside of Edd and painted Edd’s insides white with his semen. 

Matthew kept himself inside of Edd until his shaft became flaccid. He pulled himself out of the teen, noticing a little bit of his cum leaked from Edd’s hole. He smirked at Edd and lay beside him on the bed, “You’re no longer a boy, Princess. I just made you into a man. You were able to take quite a pounding for someone that hasn’t had sex before. Too bad Pipsqueak was too much of a pussy to satisfy your needs, Girlfriend. I bet I screwed you better than Pipsqueak could anyway.”

Edd was feeling like crap after the pleasure wore off. His thighs and ass were completely sore from Matthew’s rough treatment and he felt absolutely unclean. He desperately needed a shower, but his body was too sore to move. He smelled like sex and sweat and was willing to bet anything that the room also smelled like that. He was more ashamed of his actions than anything. He took pleasure in being defiled by the man and he could not take back what had happened. What would Eddy think of him if he found out? Edd could not tell the blue-haired teen of all of the things that happened between him and Matthew. 

A/N: I’m not very good at writing sex scenes. Anyway, please review! I love reading them.


	22. Addiction

Seth sat on the leather loveseat in his living room. He dwelled on the idea if he did the right thing for Matthew’s younger brother and the other guy that Matthew was after. Seth was not some damn superhero. He was not going to save teenagers from making stupid mistakes. He did what he felt was the right thing to do in the situation and went home to his growing family. 

His wife, Nancy, laid on the couch watching a cheesy reality show, covered in a fuzzy throw blanket. She was consuming a glazed donut to satiate her recent pregnancy-related craving for them. He rubbed his wife’s feet and tattooed ankles while she continued to rest for the night. She gently ran her hand across his cheek and flashed a sweet smile at him. He still wondered what a redheaded bombshell, sweet firecracker like her ever saw in a guy like him.

He thought back to those kids again. He did what he could for the loudmouthed one. At the end of the day, all the kid wanted to do was drink himself into a stupor. For what reason, Seth may never know the answer for. Lucas was just going to have the kid sleep in a bathtub, but Seth was the one to convince his friend to put the teen in a guest room. Lucas had plenty of spare guest rooms for the kid. Though carrying the kid all the way to the guest room threw out Seth’s back. Oh well, at least the kid was in a warm bed for the night. He then decided that he needed to stop worrying about those two kids and get some needed sleep. He was sure that he’ll see those two kids again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Still lying on the bed, Edd looked around the room. He could easily deduce that Lucas’ prosperous father hired the best minds to design his home as an impenetrable fortress, especially the panic rooms. Edd guessed that Eddy was right in a way; Even if someone is not the sharpest pencil in the door, they could simply become rich enough to hire the best minds to do their bidding. Edd should not be too surprised by that fact, but he still found that fact disheartening considering the fact that he considered intelligence to be the best aspect a person can possess. 

He looked over at the person that is responsible for the reason why he was still lying in bed. Matthew lay in the silk blankets next to him. Matthew’s arms were propped behind his head as he lay on the blanket as quiet as he was. For the moment, Edd cherished the silence. His thighs and posterior was still sore from Matthew’s mistreatment and Edd was not in the mood to talk to Matthew anyway.

However, the peaceful silence was quickly interrupted by Matthew’s high libido. The man was gently twisting one of Edd’s nipples, causing Edd to gently slap Matthew’s hand away. “I’m already sore enough from our earlier rendezvous.”

“Ask me if I care,” Matthew retorted. Matthew continued his assault on Edd’s nipple. Edd gasped as his sensitive nipples were twisted and pulled on by Matthew’s rough hands. His nipples were extremely sensitive and Matthew was not too gentle with him. Matthew quickly replaced his fingers with his own mouth. He sucked and licked Edd’s nipple with enough talent to put a seasoned prostitute to shame. Matthew was experienced and it showed.

Matthew tilted his head up and started trailing kisses along Edd’s jawline. His tongue traced along the curve of Edd’s bottom lip and forced itself inside his mouth. Matthew’s tongue dueled with his in a dominate kiss. Edd grimaced at the fact that he still could taste his own semen in the man’s mouth. Matthew hovered over him and continued kissing him. 

Edd quickly pushed him back. A small trial of saliva leaked from both of their mouths, “I desperately need a shower and I’m too sore to partake in an activity that is too physically strenuous.”

“I’ll carry you to the bathtub on one condition, Girlfriend,” Matthew said with much emphasis on the word `condition.’ He cradled Edd’s balls in his band and rolled them.

“What condition?” Edd asked, trying his hardest not to moan from Matthew’s ministrations. 

“That you let me fuck you again,” Matthew answered. “One time is not good enough for as long as I waited to get into your little ass.”

“I’m sure waiting a few days is a very long time to wait to deflower someone,” Edd replied sarcastically.

“Try four years, smartass,” Matthew revealed.

“I beg your pardon?” Edd gaped at the man. Four years? They’ve only known of each other for that long. The man was probably pulling his leg. There is no way that the man could’ve had lustful intentions towards him when he first seen him at Mondo A-Go Go.

“If you, Pipsqueak, and Cheesehead would’ve crashed at my place instead going back with those cul-de-sac ankle-biters, something probably would’ve happened that night,” Matthew continued. Edd felt the man getting sexually aroused near his knee. Twelve years old, he was only twelve years old when he first met Matthew. Yet, Matthew claimed that he would’ve molested Edd then if he had gotten a chance to. The thought was extremely disturbing, especially considering the fact that the man worked around children. 

Matthew positioned himself against Edd’s body and rubbed his cock against Edd’s own. Matthew grunted in his ear at the friction between them. “I wonder if you would’ve moaned the same way that you do now. I could only imagine that you would be much tighter than you were before I got with you tonight. Though, it probably would’ve included a lot more screaming, bleeding, and you getting fucked in front of Pipsqueak and Cheesehead.”

“That’s abhorrent! I don’t want to hear any more of it!” Edd yelled. It was already disturbing enough that he heard that the man wanted to have sex with him back before he even gotten a chance to hit puberty, but hearing how the man would’ve taken his virginity in front of his friends, Ed and Eddy, and scarred them for life was another horrible thought entirely. 

“Your body likes it though,” Matthew taunted, “could it be that you’re enjoying the mental imagery of me fucking you in front of Pipsqueak?” Matthew continued sliding his pelvis against his. Edd could feel himself growing more aroused by the feeling of the man’s cock against his. Edd moaned in pleasure in the man’s ear.

“No!” Edd protested, “It just feels wonderful. The way your skin touches my own feels intoxicating.” Edd admitted shamefully. He shut his eyes tightly in embarrassment at revealing how much pleasure he got from the man.

Edd quickly opened his eyes again when he heard the man chuckle. “Is that so, Girlfriend?” Matthew asked, amused, “Well damn, I suppose I better give you want since you’re begging for it so badly.” Matthew gently traced across Edd’s chin with his thumb while he lined himself up with Edd’s already used hole. 

“I’m not begging for- oh lord!” Edd squeaked as Matthew enters Edd again. Matthew gripped the teen’s hips and began his slow pace of sliding in and out of the kid. There are a very few people that he could honestly say that made him feel a certain way; Edd was now quickly becoming one of them. In fact, that same feeling is how he ended up with three kids in the first place. The feeling of being addicted to another person’s body so much that he wanted to cum inside them again and again. There was only one other male that made him feel like this before, but the guy was not worth remembering now.

“You still feel really fucking great inside, Princess,” Matthew moaned out huskily, his body rocking back and forth while he thrust inside of Edd. Edd started to tighten around him the more Matthew thrust into him. That kid was about to cum again. After a few more thrusts, Edd came onto both of their stomachs, shouting Matthew’s name. Matthew could only grin as he continued to thrust inside of Edd faster.

Hearing his name on the teen’s lips only encouraged him to fuck Edd even harder. He thrust into Edd with the speed of a wild animal. The last thing on Matthew’s mind was how much sorer Edd’s body was going to be after Matthew was finished. Matthew leaned towards Edd’s shoulder and bit him in the same place that he bit him before he gave Edd his first blowjob. Edd shouted his name like a mantra. Whether it was from Matthew’s wild thrusts or from Matthew sinking his teeth into Edd’s collarbone, Matthew did not know. All he knew was that hearing his name on Edd’s lips was sending him over the edge. After a few more thrusts, he came inside of Edd with a low grunt.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Matthew kept his promise to Edd and carried him into the bathroom and into the bathtub. For a bathroom that was connected to a panic room, which meant that the bathroom would not been used too often; the bathroom was really nice. In fact, it was probably nicer than any bathroom that Edd had ever stepped foot in. 

The bathtub he sat in was an octagon-shaped whirlpool bathtub that could easily fit four people easily. He was not sure if the bathtub was used for anything, but for bragging rights from Lucas’ self-indulgent father and the off-chance that they would need to use the tub in the future. Same could be said for the California king bed. 

Of course, Matthew used his bath time as an excuse to see more of him in the buff. As if the man has not seen Edd enough tonight in his birthday suit and vice versa. The man sat next to him in the tub and scrubbed his own hair with expensive salon shampoo. There was a great quantity of similar types of shampoo on one shelf in the bathroom. There was probably enough to open a salon with and still have shampoo to sell to customers. 

Edd grabbed the shampoo Matthew had and applied a generous amount of it to his own hand. He had slid off his hat before he had been carried into the bathroom. He massaged the shampoo into his scalp. The shampoo actually did wonders for his scalp. He could feel his own hair getting softer just from the shampoo being in his hair. 

Edd had to admit, the jets from the bathtub were soothing his aching muscles. When people talk about sex, they fail to mention how much someone’s back and thighs can hurt after the deed. Not only did Edd’s backside hurt, but his thighs and back also hurt as well. He watched as Matthew scrubbed himself with body wash, waiting patiently for Matthew to hand over the scrubber.

Once he was handed the scrubber and body wash, he quickly poured the body wash unto the scrubber. The body wash was named “Asian Fusion” and was a mixture of the scents Japanese cherry blossom, lily, and sandalwood. The combination of scents was actually quite nice. 

Edd scrubbed himself down. It usually takes him a long time to scrub down his entire body. It took him even longer to scrub himself down, because he wanted to make sure the dead skin cells and microorganisms were scrubbed off his body. Not only that, but he also wanted to scrub off any trace of semen or saliva off of his body. He must have spent the last half hour scrubbing. He looked over and seen Matthew watching him with an amused expression on his face. Edd huffed and continued. The perverted man was probably getting quite a show at seeing him during his usual routine of scrubbing his skin raw.

When Edd finished scrubbing himself and rinsed off his entire body, Matthew wrapped his torso and lower half in a large towel and carried him back to the bed. The man did not even bother to dress him or himself. Edd laid on the bed in the nude next to Matthew, tired from the day’s events and from the sex. He was at least thankful that Matthew covered both of them with the blanket. Edd snuggled the pillow he laid his head upon and fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*

Eddy woke up and looked at the clock in the room he was in; it was only 2 am in morning. He had awoken to the sound of a thud and a woman screaming “stop.” He could not tell if he just dreamed the whole thing or if he actually heard it. Whatever it was left him spooked. He gazed from the left side of the room to the right, trying to make sense of it all. He got up from the bed and stumbled towards the door. He tried to open the door with no success. He tried entering in random numbers on the number lock above the door, but it did not open. 

Eddy started to freak out and pounded on the door, calling for Lucas, Edd, Matthew, or even Seth to let him out of the room. No one answered the door. Eddy was feeling even more terrified than he had been before. He hurried back into the bed and pulled the covers over his head as if he were just a mere child that was afraid of the dark. Eddy decided to go back to sleep and wait for morning to be set free from his lavish prison room.


	23. Back to the Cul-de-Sac

Heavy eyelids blinked as its owner adjusted to the dim morning light. Edd looked outside and seen that a storm just came in. “Summer rains, you can never predict them.” Edd mused as he looked around the room. He felt something bristle against his bare shoulder. He looked over and seen Matthew still sleeping beside him. A heavy arm was draped over his midsection and a heavy leg covered his own. He could feel the man’s lips on his neck and the man’s flaccid manhood upon his hip. 

He quietly slipped away from the man’s arms without waking him up. After carefully straightening up the blanket and sheets, he looked around for his underwear. Memories of the night before ran through his mind like a broken record. Shame was the only emotion that he felt at the moment. He let himself be defiled by the man and became the second Ed that lost his virginity as far as he was aware of. He knew Ed lost his to the Kanker sisters. Ed is not the type to make something like that up. As for Eddy, the teen’s defensiveness towards the question makes it quite obvious that Eddy was still a virgin. 

Edd found his underwear a minute later underneath Matthew’s clothes and quickly put it on. After he was dressed, he looked around for his hat. The last place he remembered tossing it was on the bed before he got in the bathtub. It probably still is in the same spot that he left it the night before. He gently lifted up the blanket and scanned the bed for his beanie. Edd was thankful that the man did not wake up.

His face fell when he seen that his precious beanie was underneath the man’s pillow. Edd grimaced at his rotten luck this morning. Scratch that, these last several weeks. Edd figured if he carefully crawled over the sleeping man, he could successfully pull his beanie from underneath the man’s head without waking the man up. 

Crawling unto the bed, Edd straddled one of Matthew and leaned over the man to retrieve his hat. When his fingertips touched the black cotton fabric, he felt a pair of hands close around his neck. His voice cracked as he struggled to breath against the obstruction of his windpipe. He looked over to see that Matthew was not only wide awake, but the man glowered at him with murderous fury. Edd did not know if he just being foolish, but he could have sworn that he seen a flash of fear in the man’s eyes for a split second. “M-Matthew, I can’t breathe!” Edd croaked.

The man took a split second to look the teen over. Matthew’s facial expression changed from one of murderous intent to that of the usual look that he gave Edd. He let go of Edd’s neck and chuckled humorously as if the few seconds never happened, “what are you doing, Princess? Do you already want my cock again? I already told you that I’m a hard habit to break.”

“No Matthew, I just really want my hat is all,” Edd explained, rubbing his own throat, “I don’t want to be seen without it.” Matthew handed him his hat and yawned. He looked around and grimaced slightly when he seen that Lucas was not there yet to unlock the door. He heard Edd speak to him again, “Matthew, you really should make yourself decent. Lucas or somebody else could show up any minute now and that would put us in a serious situation.” Edd explained. After he grabbed his hat and shoved it over the top of his head, he slid off the man. He watched as Matthew dressed himself and stood in the middle of the room and watched the door.

An hour later, Edd’s ears perked at the sound of numbers being punched in. He rushed to the middle of the room, grateful that they would finally be released from their lavish imprisonment. He heard Eddy’s voice behind the door, complaining to the person next to him, “-next time you lock me in a room again, I’m going to take my damn shoe and shove it up your ass, Lucas.”

The door opened revealing Lucas who looked like he was a few seconds from getting sloppy drunk. Beside him stood Eddy, who was pulling a food tray with wheels around. “I told you before; I could not have you taking things from my home, so I locked you in there for the night. I’m sorry if your little ass is afraid of the dark.”

“Are you calling me a thief?” Eddy yelled at the top of his lungs, his face getting as red as a tomato, “I’m not afraid of the damn dark and you know it! Everyone who lives in this house must be a goddamn dick, because I was about 3 seconds from losing it on that guy who sounds like a James Bond character.”

“I’m not calling you a thief, I’m just taking precautions, you little shithead,” Lucas shot back, “Not afraid of the dark, huh? I woke up to you screaming and pounding on the damn door this morning. Your room was not too far from where mine was. Also, that guy you’re talking about was my father.”

“What the hell did your dad want?” Eddy asked rudely.

“He wanted to tell me that my whore of a stepmom miscarried this morning after falling down the stairs when she was sloppy drunk. She doesn’t even remember falling last night,” Lucas informed him.

Eddy became instantly quiet. The screaming he heard last night was not a dream brought on by all of the alcohol he consumed. It was from Lucas’ stepmom stumbling down the steps. The strange part about it was the woman screamed “stop.” Nothing about that made any sense to him. The cold cheery expression on Lucas’ face over the news sent shivers down Eddy’s spine.

“I’m sorry to hear about your family’s loss,” Edd spoke up. He did not know how to console individuals who had just lost a family member, even if it was unborn family members. It seemed that Lucas was not the slightest bit concerned over his stepmom or his now-deceased half-brother or sister. Quite the contrary, the man seemed happy that it happened.

“I’m not. Though you guys might want to take your breakfasts and go,” Lucas suggested, “Figure it’s probably better that way than you staying here during another family feud.”

“I still don’t know why you deal with that faggot. You still have 75 percent of your mom’s inheritance at your fingertips. You can whoop your old man’s ass, bail yourself out, and live in a fancy hotel room until you can find yourself a place,” Matthew suggested, grabbing one of the egg English muffin sandwiches that was on the tray. 

“Afraid not, Mattie. I’m still looking to inherit 100 percent of daddy’s assets when he kicks the bucket. That would require wrapping the old fuck around my finger in the meantime.” Lucas boasted.

“And what benefit is worth gaining the whole world at the cost of your own soul?” Edd asked.

“That sounds like some Communist shit, kid,” Lucas chuckled. “Anyway, you guys should start hitting the road soon. I seen on the weather channel this morning that the storm is just going to get worse in the next hours.”

~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~

Both Edd and Eddy were thankful to be out of that mansion. It seemed that the whole situation involving everyone in the mansion was like a badly-written soap opera. Lucas and his family were waiting for each other to reach their expiration date, just so that they can gleefully inherit each other’s money or to be next in line to inherit each other’s fortune. The whole idea was disgusting to say the least, but there was not much that they could do about it. Needless to say, they were both missing the cul-de-sac.

After a long drive, they finally returned to said neighborhood. Edd was thankful that Matthew was quiet during the whole trip. However, he was not thankful that the man bought himself more liquor at some run-down corner liquor store on the way back. The man was probably going to spend the rest of the day getting drunk as usual.

Edd was also thankful that Eddy was not acting unusual around him. Edd concluded that Eddy must have forgotten everything that happened between them last night. It was becoming a regular occurrence now. Edd remembered how soft and gentle Eddy’s hands felt around his cock. Edd’s mind went straight into the gutter. He wondered what sex with Eddy would be like. Would Eddy be as gentle with him as he was when he started to jerk him off last night?

When they pulled into the driveway, they heard someone knocking on the backdoor. Matthew grimaced, “who the fuck is knocking on our backdoor?” 

“I think I know who it is,” Edd replied.

“I think I know too,” Eddy replied, getting out of the van, “let’s go see what he wants.”

Edd followed him into the backyard. He heard Matthew get out of the car and walk into the house. Once he walked around the house, he spotted Ed knocking on the door repeatedly. Ed did not even notice Eddy and Edd watching him, and continued to knock on Eddy’s bedroom door. Judging from how much drier Ed’s clothes were compared to the lawn furniture, he concluded that Ed must have been there for at least ten minutes.

“Ed! You can quit knocking on my door now,” Eddy replied.

Ed turned around and flashed them a large goofy grin, “Hi guys!”

“Hello Ed,” Edd greeted warmly, “let’s get you inside. You’ll catch a cold if you stand out here for much longer.”

As Eddy unlocked the door with the key that was in his trouser pocket, Ed asked, “So where did you guys go?”

“Sockhead and I got dragged to some creepy rich guy’s house. He was one of my brother’s old friends.” Eddy explained, opening the door.

“Oh no! Was he like the guy from `31 Ghosts’ who locked people into his mansion to feed his pet ghosts?” Ed asked.

“No Ed, the guy my brother knew was just creepy and an asshole.” Eddy stated.

Ed stared blankly for a few minutes, lost in the realm that only existed between his ears. When his mind returned back to reality, he jumped up and down with excitement, “Oh! Oh! I found a videotape at the store by my aunt’s house that was selling them. The guy in the video said that he could show me how to get closer to my friends.”

“But Ed, we’re already close. We have been ever since we were small children.” Edd explained.

“C’mon Double D! Please! Can we try what is on the tape? Pretty please! I only watched some of the tape, but I know that whatever is on the tape would help our friendship!” Ed begged.

“Alright, Ed. We’ll try what is on the tape.” Edd caved, “you’ll just have to give Eddy and me a few minutes alone to discuss something.”

“Okay!” Ed nodded eagerly. “Don’t take too long. I can’t wait to show you guys! The guy in the video said it would work!”

“We heard you the first time, Lumpenstein!” Eddy replied. He watched as Ed hurriedly rushed into his room, getting into whatever kind of mischief the absent-minded teen could think of in a moment’s notice. “Alright, Double D, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“We still need to talk to Kevin about you know who, remember?” Edd whispered, cautiously, in case Matthew could overhear their conversation.

Eddy shrugged, “We’ll ask Shovel Chin once my brother has got enough booze in his body to get a rhino drunk. That way we can do it without either of us getting our asses kicked. Kevin’s cousin has to know something that would lead us to figuring out who the guy in the video is.”

“Right.” Edd nodded in agreement to Eddy’s plan. However, it was only the start of the obstacles that they would need to face when it came to convincing Kevin to let them talk to his cousin. He still was not if Kevin was still upset over Matthew’s driving mishap, but they would still need to approach the situation very delicately in order for Kevin to give them information. Edd went inside to check on Ed. Ed’s friendship-building activity would provide a necessary distraction while they waited for Matthew to get drunk.


	24. Fearful

“My head is still reeling from being locked in that room all right. Double D. Lucas is such a creep. I never thought I would get out of there. Though it was probably also strange for you sharing a room with my brother though, am I right? What kind of crack was Lucas smoking when he came up with that sleeping arrangement?”

“Oh, now you’re concerned!” Edd replied back, sarcastically, “if you must know, I slept the whole time until an hour before you and Lucas unlocked the door.”

“Don’t have a bird, Sockhead,” Eddy argued, “my head was still reeling from being locked in that one room all night and hearing Lucas stepmom fall down the stairs and screaming `stop’ as she fell down the steps.” Then Eddy added without skipping a beat, “don’t tell me that you ended up having to sleep in the same bed as Matthew.”

“Unfortunately, there was nowhere else to sleep,” Edd stated, “Eddy, if you heard Lucas’ stepmom scream `stop,’ that is a clear indication that her fall was not accidental. Somebody purposely pushed her down the steps, possibly either trying to murder her, or more likely, pushed her down the stairs to force her to miscarry her unborn child. You should contact the police about it.”

“And tell them what? I think that her fall was on purpose, because of something she yelled? Get real, Sockhead! The Peach Creek police department is not going to start asking the great and powerful Holmes family questions without a warrant. Especially since Lucas’ stepmom claims that it was an accident,” Eddy argued.

“Fine, Eddy,” Edd threw up his hands in surrender, “we won’t go to the police regarding what you had heard that night.”

“Good. Let’s just deal with a couple of weird situations at a time.” Eddy stated, “Speaking of which, where the hell is Ed?”

“I have no idea,” Edd looked around. A couple of seconds later, Ed came back into the room after getting himself a soda. Eddy was used to it. After knowing the guy for several years, Ed pretty much regarded Eddy’s home as his second home, considering that Edd’s house was now boarded up to prevent anyone from entering the empty residence. That also included Ed helping himself to Eddy’s fridge, both awake and asleep. 

“So Ed, what did this tape say that we would have to do?” Eddy asked.

Ed flashes another goofy grin at the two, “we need to play truth-or-dare?”

“What are we, twelve?” Eddy retorted, “Your idea bites, monobrow!”

“Oh c’mon, Eddy!” Ed begged, “The guy in the video said it would work!”

“Alright, Ed!” Eddy sighed, “Keep your eyebrow on!”

Eddy and Ed sat next to each other on the floor. Edd sat on the other side of Eddy. He was surprised that he was in less pain than he was the night before. However, he supposed that taking a nice, relaxing soak in the tub and a good rest relieved most of his soreness. It was another way that his compulsive cleanliness came in handy.

“Okay, Eddy. The guy in the video said that it would be just a game of dares. I go first!” Ed announced happily. “Double D, I dare you to hug me!”

“Well, that was predictable!” Eddy said, “Ed, you wasted your turn! The point of the game is to have friends do embarrassing shit.”

“Ah Eddy, I wanted a hug though,” Ed whined after Edd hugged the tallest teen.

Eddy groaned, “Let me show you how it’s done. Ed, I dare you to give me ten bucks.”

“Eddy, using this game to swindle your friends into giving you money is not how the game of truth or dare is played either,” Edd scolded.

Eddy snorted, “Whatever, Sockhead. For that, you miss your turn!”

Edd folded his arms and made a `hmph’ noise. Eddy rolled his eyes at Edd’s behavior as Ed handed him ten dollars. Ed spoke up, getting both of their attention. “I dare Eddy to kiss Double D!”

“Alright Ed, but I’ve got a dare for you after this one.” Eddy replied. Ed always had a vague understanding of what was appropriate behavior for close friendships and what was appropriate for relationships. Ed tried to kiss Edd and him under the mistletoe quite a few times during the years and even showed affection towards his two friends similar to how a mother would show affection towards a child by kissing them on top of their heads, hugging them, and carrying them around. In Ed’s mind, a kiss between friends was just a friendly gesture.

Eddy leaned close to Edd and caught Edd’s lips with his own. Edd tried his hardest not to blush at the kiss. Edd’s heart was fluttering at the contact. This would be Eddy’s first time kissing him sober since they were twelve. The kiss they shared in that moment was as tender as the ones they shared when Eddy was under the influence of alcohol. Eddy pulled away from Edd a few seconds later and turned towards Ed. “I dare you to streak throughout the house.”

“Eddy!” Edd shrieked, “That’s indecent! Ed doesn’t have to run around the house in the nude!” His pleas fell on deaf ears. Ed was already stripping out of his pants as Edd tried to reason with Eddy. Once Edd was done talking and noticed Ed stripping out of his clothes, he pulled his beanie over his eyes. “Ed, make yourself decent, please!” 

Eddy cackled at the sight. Edd couldn’t see what Eddy was doing, but he imagined that Eddy was probably lying on the floor, busting a gut at the result of his dare. Edd could hear Ed giggling as well. The next thing Edd heard was Ed yelled his victory cry, “freedom,” and the door quickly shut ten seconds later. 

“Ed, you get back here and dress yourself immediately!” Edd shouted, not daring to uncover his eyes.

Ed’s shouts and boisterous laughter can still be heard faintly from the bedroom, “Take me to your leader, clothes mutant from the washer underworld! The sock army is ready for your command!”

A minute later, Edd heard Matthew yell out, “why the hell is Cheesehead running around our house naked?”

Eddy’s laughing fits became even louder when he heard his brother. Edd hated to admit it, but he kind of found the situation kind of amusing as well. He did not know if the moment was genuinely funny or if some of Eddy’s deviousness was rubbing off on him. However, Edd laughed as well. After several minutes, Ed returned back to the room, still laughing the boisterous laugh.

“You’re a riot, Ed!” Eddy proclaimed, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes. After Ed got dressed, Eddy announced, “you can uncover your eyes now, Double D. Ed’s dressed.”

Edd uncovered his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Ed looked a bit confused. Edd wondered what was troubling the teen until Ed asked, “Uh, guys, do friends actually show each other their naughty parts?”

“No Ed, what the hell? Why would you ask something like that?” Eddy yelled.

“The guy in the video said that’s what friends do!” Ed replied.

Edd found that a bit strange. What kind of video did Ed watch? “Ed, do you have the video tape with you?” He asked, putting out his hand.

Ed fished around for the tape in his vest pocket and handed him the tape. Edd looked the tape over. “Guide to Special Friendships’? That explains everything. Lovable oaf! He thought it was a self-help video on friendships.” Edd read the description on the back of the videotape, “Want your special friends to become even closer to you? With our glistening, tan professional lover as your guide; this video provides you with a simple step-by-step on how to have the perfect ménage a trois.”

“It’s a good thing that things stopped before they got any weirder,” Eddy responded. He could easily see how Ed could be confused by the video content. For that, he could not stay too freaked out over Ed’s strange question.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With Matthew passed out on the couch and cradling a closed bottle of alcohol, Edd and Eddy concluded that it was safe for them to pay Kevin a visit. The sound of the motor to Kevin’s lawn mower had ceased its running. Kevin had ceased mowing the lawn and pushed the mower into his shed and shut the shed door, wiping the sweat from his brow. Kevin had barely noticed Ed, Edd and Eddy in his yard until he turned around.

“What do you dorks want?” Kevin asked. Eddy tried to engage the redhead into a bit of small talk about the weather while Edd stood there listening and Ed was trying to lick his own elbow. Kevin grew suspicious of Edd and repeated his question, “what do you want?”

“Listen, Kevin,” Edd spoke up, hesitantly, “we need to ask your cousin Sasha a few questions.”

“What for?” Kevin asked, suspiciously. “If that psycho put you two up to this, I won’t hesitant to hurt all three of you!”

“There’s no need for barbarity,” Edd shook, yet tried to keep himself calm and collected, “we are unable to turn to Matthew to answer the questions that we are seeking the answers to, so we need a way to contact your cousin.”

“And what does that have to do with me or my cousin?” The ice cold expression never left Kevin’s face.

“Just give us some way to contact your fucking cousin, Kevin!” Eddy shouted, quickly losing his temper.

Kevin yelled back at Eddy, “why should I, Dorky? Why should I put Sasha or myself in danger just for you dorks to play detectives? I know what that fucker would do! He would not only come after me and my cousin, but everyone I care about, including Rolf and Nazz. I’ll be damned if I let that fucker come after my best friend and the girl I like.” All three of the Eds stood there stunned as Kevin continued his angry rant, “Yes, I like Nazz! I have even when we were kids. I could care less what size she is or how old she gets; I’m in love with her and probably always will.”

Neither Ed really had anything to say regarding Kevin’s fear-laced confession, except for Ed’s fearful pleas to Kevin to spare them from his wrath. Kevin was scared and was angry at the perceived threat the three posed to Kevin’s safety. It reminded Edd of all of the years Kevin mistrusted them due to the numerous scams they have pulled. Thankfully, someone else had broken the silence for them, “Kev, calm down, dude! Please Kev, whatever the Eds are looking into must be important for them to want to contact your cousin.”

“Nazz, you’ve been here the whole time?” Kevin asked as he felt Nazz’s hand massage his shoulder, coaxing him to calm down.

“I’ve heard most of it,” Nazz replied, “we’ll talk about it later when the Eds are away!” There was a tint of seduction to Nazz’s voice in that moment. It seemed that Kevin’s feelings were reciprocated, but Edd was sure he would probably find out later if Kevin got a fairy tale ending to his confession. 

“A-Alright,” Kevin nodded and turned back to the Eds, “what the hell are you three dorks looking into?”

“You see, Kevin; Eddy and I watched a strange video at the house of Matthew’s childhood friend. The tape contained footage of Matthew torturing one of his classmates and Sasha is probably the only person we could ask to see if the classmate is alright.”

After hearing Edd’s explanation, Kevin and Nazz both had twin expressions of shock written across their faces. The stony glare Kevin had moments ago disappeared. It looked as though Kevin was mentally debating himself. The atmosphere became so quiet that Edd could easily hear crickets performing their evening orchestra. 

After a while, Kevin gives in, “Alright, fine, but if that fucker goes after anyone due to you three-” Kevin made a throat cutting gesture to emphasize his point. He then whispered to Eddy and Edd, “you can find Sasha at the Fuzzy Peach. It’s a bar on the outskirts of town near the highway.” 

Kevin quickly gave them directions to the place. The place was not too far away from the cul-de-sac. It was a five minute drive and was near the police station. Eddy and Edd thanked Kevin for the information and knew what they had to do next. They had to drive to where Sasha might be while Matthew was still dead to the world.


	25. Blood Oath

The sign at the bar they stopped at indicated that they were at the right place. The sign looked only a couple of years compared to the building which looked a couple of decades old. There were a few cars that parked in the small parking lot along with theirs. Edd could hear dance music being played from the club. So far, it looked like an average club to Edd. He just hoped that he would not get carded when they were inside before they got their chance to talk to Sasha.

“Looks like this is the place,” Edd replied, “mind your manners while we’re in here.”

“Yes mom!” Eddy replied sarcastically with a groan. 

“Do you think they would serve us eyeball martinis?” Ed asked.

Edd shook his head, “no Ed.”

They got out of the van and entered into the building. The inside of the building seemed like a normal bar to him. The room was dimly lit. Neon light fixtures and wall speakers hung from the walls. Most of the people in the building were gathered around the bar, watching a football game from the big screen TV behind the bartender. Ed, with his infamous short attention, made a b-line towards the arcade games and begun to play one called “Alien Shootout” after putting a quarter into the machine. Next to the arcade games was a karaoke machine that was not being used at the moment. 

Edd looked around and noticed some subtle hints about what kind of bar they were in. One of the patrons was a middle age, obese cross-dresser in a pink leopard skin dress, a platinum blond wig, and dark eyeliner. A rainbow flag hung from the wall near the bar tables that were near the door. Kevin led them to a gay bar.

Edd was not the only one who noticed, “What the hell? That fucking dickhead! That rat Kevin tricked us into coming here so he could tell everyone at school that we went to a gay bar!”

“Calm down, Eddy,” Edd chided, “we need to ask around for Kevin’s cousin before jumping to conclusions.”

“Fine,” Eddy groaned, “I still think Kevin tricked us into coming here!” Eddy went up to the cross-dresser he seen and tapped them on the shoulder. “Excuse me. I’m looking for someone named Sasha. Are they here?”

The cross-dresser grinned impishly, “Just wait a few minutes and I’ll get Sasha for you, honey.”

Eddy watched as the stranger in women’s clothing went through the door, supposedly to the back room to get Sasha. “What the hell was that about? You see the way he looked at me when I asked to see Sasha?”

“No, I was watching Ed play an arcade game,” Edd admitted. Unfortunately, he was getting a bit distracted from his own thoughts. It was not just Ed’s arcade game that kept him distracted; it was the possible identity of Sasha. A dozen different possibilities ran through his mind, from Sasha being a gay man, a lesbian, a transgendered individual, or just a regular person who just so happened to work at a gay bar.

Eddy tapped the floor with his foot angrily after waiting ten long minutes for Sasha to appear. The cross-dresser arrived two minutes after claiming that he was getting Sasha for him. It was bad enough that Kevin tricked him, but getting tricked by an individual that kind of looked like the late singer/actor Divine was a new low to him. Edd and Eddy watched Ed play “Alien Shootout.” Ed was pretty good at the arcade game. The distracted Ed played the game while yelling at the aliens on the screen, jerking around the joystick and slapping the buttons on the machine.

Eddy felt a pair of hands lightly grasp his hips. The person place open-mouth kisses upon his neck. Eddy squeaked from the contact, nearly jumping out of his own skin. The man who had him in his clutches whispered, “I heard you were looking for me. I have about an hour of break. You can fuck me however much you want until I have to return back to work, handsome.”

“Hey! Keep your pervy hands to yourself!” Eddy broke from the contact and turned around to face his assailant. The sight of the person shocked him. The person standing before him was the teen from the video. However time has changed the geeky teen in the video to the man that stood before him. The guy looked to be about the same age as Matthew, Seth, and Lucas. The man’s auburn hair was spiked and he had dark circles underneath his green eyes. The man’s clothes seemed trendy enough. In fact, Eddy could see some resemblance between the man in front of him and Kevin. 

Ed and Edd rushed towards Eddy calling out to him, the arcade game was completely forgotten. “Eddy, what happened?” Edd asked. When he saw the man in front of him, he was as shocked as Eddy was at the sight. He recognized the man as the teen from the video. Edd was not sure what he expected to find. The sight of the then teen, now twenty-something adult, was surprising to say the least.

“Wait, you’re not here for a booty call?” The man asked Eddy, he seemed genuinely confused. 

Eddy let out a low growl, “no! What the fuck is wrong with you? You don’t just put your lips on complete fucking strangers!” Edd’s blood boiled at the mention of the man’s lips on Eddy. He decided to calm himself from the hypocritical feeling of jealousy. It was a great misunderstanding on the man’s part. 

“Sorry, man. I thought you were looking for hook up.” The man shrugged.

“Are you Sasha?” Edd asked. When the man nodded affirmatively, Edd explained the situation, “there has been some misunderstanding. We need to discuss some things in private.”

Sasha nodded. He strolled over to the Asian bartender on duty and whispered to the guy. The bartender nodded affirmatively and Sasha walked back over to the teens. “Hiroshi is going to take over me. It’s too noisy to discuss things here, but we can discuss things in my apartment.”

Edd wasn’t sure if it were wise to follow the man. The man did try to “hook up” with Eddy. However, he deduced that Sasha could not have been any worse than Matthew was. Plus, he did need to discuss what was on the tape to the redhead. Ed followed behind them, grinning naïvely. They walked past the back room of the bar where boxes sat on shelves, ready to be served to the customers on any given day. Sasha unlocked one of the doors and led them inside.

The apartment that was connected to the bar was a small two bedroom apartment where the kitchen and sitting room was in the same room. The only thing that separated the kitchen and sitting room were dividers. The room was illuminated from one overhead light fixture. The entire sitting room contained a lot of horror movie posters, music posters, and horror movie memorabilia. Besides that, empty pizza boxes, fast food wrappers, and cookie boxes cluttered the place. Edd grimaced at the sight. Sasha’s place fit the whole bachelor pad stereotype.

“Sorry for the mess. I can’t cook, so I order out a lot.” Sasha apologized, “Please have a seat on the futon.” Sasha pointed towards the red futon sofa bed that sat in the middle of the sitting room. Edd glanced over the sofa, making sure there were no food crumbs before sitting down. Eddy flopped down on the couch after Edd. Ed was busy marveling the horror memorabilia iin the room, critiquing the various items as “cool.”

“Yeah, your house looks like Ed’s room on a really, really good day,” Eddy muttered. Edd elbowed Eddy for the backhanded comment. Though he had to admit, it was kind of true. While Sasha’s house was leagues away from the landfill that Ed called a room, the pile of discarded trash near the futon and the horror movie stuff certainly did remind him of his friend’s bedroom. 

“Hey!” Eddy yelled out as he rubbed his own side, groaning.

“So how did you three find me?” Sasha asked, taking a seat on an armchair.

Eddy answered, “Kevin led us here.”

“You know my little cousin?” Sasha asked with concern, “did something happen to him?”

“Yeah, we know Kevin Barr; he’s one of our classmates. He told us that this is where we would be able to find you,” Edd explained, “-but that’s not why we’re here. Kevin is alright. I assure you.”

“Oh great, I hit on jailbait. Not exactly the highlight of my life,” Sasha remarked about his actions earlier around Eddy. “At least, Kevin is alright.”

“Hey, you were the one that put your lips on me, Romeo!” Eddy retorted.

Sasha shrugged, “what can I say? I like chubs. However, I don’t like underage chubs.”

“What the hell did you call me?” Eddy shouted, “I’ll have you know that the only reason we’re here today is because my brother and his asshole friends videotaped themselves tying you up half-naked!” Edd groaned at Eddy’s outburst. There were better ways to tell Sasha the news, but that was not one of them.

“Is that you, Pipsqueak?” Sasha asked. Edd snorted humorously at the nickname given to Eddy. It seemed everyone Matthew knew referred to Eddy as that.

“Yeah, I’m Matthew’s younger brother, Eddy,” Eddy huffed, not being too thrilled at being known as Pipsqueak even by the guy who was bullied by his brother.

“I haven’t seen you since you were a small child,” Sasha commented, “I suppose you kids are wondering about my years of being bullied by Matthew McGee and his two lackeys?”

Edd nodded, “if you want to.”

“Let me get myself something to drink and I’ll tell you two what I can,” Sasha replied, “the only thing I have in my fridge is wine coolers, so I don’t have anything to offer you three.”

“That’s fine,” Edd nodded. It was the man’s house, so he did not want to be disrespectful and scold the man for drinking alcohol in front of them. Sasha walked towards the small fridge in his apartment. The man paused to lift his shirt up slightly to wipe his face with his shirt. The sight of the man’s lower back being exposed was heart-stopping. Straight down the man’s lower back was a scar that was possibly even longer. Edd was not sure how he missed it, but there was also a scar running down running down the length of Sasha’s wrist as well. The scars on the man’s body looked quite old

“How the hell did you get those scars on your back and wrist?” Eddy asked.

“Thank your brother for both of them,” Sasha replied, lowering his shirt and getting himself a wine cooler, “the scar on my back was the result of Matthew throwing a hissy fit before Matthew got thrown out of his dad’s house. The one on my back is from a blood oath he forced me to take back when we were both ten years old.”

“What kind of blood oath did Matthew force you to take?” Eddy asked, curiously.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you what happened,” Sasha replied, returning to his seat with his drink.

“What do you mean you can’t tell us?” Eddy yelled, slamming his fists into the table. Ed was temporarily broken from his trance of playing with an evil-looking doll that was a replica of a famous killer doll from a horror movie, but that was short-lived. Ed went back to what he was doing. Ed was going through Sasha’s stuff similar to how someone would view things from a museum with the exception that someone would not be touching everything in sight.

“Hey, be nice to my table, you little dork,” Sasha scolded, “Part of the blood oath was that neither Matthew, Seth, Lucas, or I would speak of what exactly happened one day when we were ten years. It’s personal, so please mind your own business. You’re lucky I’m telling you about what happened to me as kid.”

“Fine,” Eddy groaned.

“Anyway, Matthew was always too insane to ever be considered sane and too sane for the nuthouse.” Sasha continued, “He was always a troublemaker, even when he was child. He was always bullying me and trying to scam me every chance he got. However, he got worse after one particular incident that caused Matthew to force me to take the stupid blood oath in the first place. I can’t tell you kids exactly what happened, because part of the blood oath was that Matthew would kill whoever dared to tell anyone exactly what happened. However, I can give you a few details about what happened.”

“That is understandable,” Edd replied. 

“I was dragged by Matthew and Lucas to a house that was pretty famous in the neighborhood at the time for how much parents forbid their children from visiting or going trick-or-treating at. My parents even told me to stay away from that particular house. Seth seemed just as scared as I was of that damn house and its owner. Matthew got the bright idea to use me as bait while they robbed the person that lived there blind. Things did not work out that way and all four of us experienced something that no child should ever have to experience. All four of us escaped from that house several hours later and hid in the forest behind the house. Neither one of us wanted to talk about what happened in that house until Matthew spoke up and barks orders at everyone, discussing the terms of the blood oath. I remember Seth and Matthew arguing, because Seth wanted to us to report the house owner to police. Matthew got his way once again and they slit their fingers with a pocket knife that Seth took from the owner in order for us to escape and touch each other’s bloody fingers like they were in some kind of strange ritual. Then they decided to get me into that disgusting ritual with them. Matthew had Lucas and Seth hold me down while he cut my wrist. They each touched my wrist with their bloody fingers and I became an unwilling participant in their blood oath.” 

“Damn,” Eddy commented, unsure of what else to say. Edd was also too stunned to say anything.

“As much as I hated to admit it at the time, that event changed each of us.” Sasha continued, “I could not relax for the life of me and had trouble sleeping for years after the event. Lucas became a lot creepier. Just being around that guy was enough to make my skin crawl. Seth would come to school sometimes reeking of alcohol and got track marks on his arms from shooting up. Matthew became a lot more sadistic after the incident. I would arrive home everyday black and blue. After a while of shoving me into lockers, breaking my arm a few times, throwing stink bombs at me, and forcing me to drink alcohol and some kind of strange hot sauce, his tactics for humiliating me became more sexual as time went on. He would strip me naked and tie me up to anything that held me there until someone found me. He would make wild accusations about how much of a “gay whore” I was. He told everyone at school that I either was sucking off old dudes for cash, got my stomach pumped for overdosing on semen, or that I had a crush on the football team. It was the same juvenile shit every single goddamn day. It was especially bad when one of Matthew’s lies led to child services questioning my own parents about it. Nothing came from it, thankfully.”

“Oh dear,” Edd uttered, “That was absolutely horrid.”

Sasha only nodded. “I did not know of Matthew’s sexual attraction towards me until I was asked by one of my teachers to help him with his English homework. When I arrived to his house, he pulled me into his bedroom and locked the door. He pulled down his pants and told me that I had a choice between sucking him off and him telling the whole damn school that I forced myself on him. I choose to suck him off. He hounded after me after that. Whenever he wanted someone to suck him off and if one of his various girlfriends didn’t help him out, he went after me and I didn’t have much say over it. I eventually lost my virginity to him. We had some sort of twisted fucking relationship if you can even call it that.”

“So what happened between you two that led to you getting sliced like a turkey?” Eddy asked.

“Well, I broke things off with him after awhile.” Sasha replied, “One day I had to babysit Kevin while his parents went out to dinner. Matthew wanted to fuck me at my aunt and uncle’s house with Kevin there. I told him to fuck off, that I was not going to fuck him with Kevin in the house, but he came back with his two goons and beat up Kevin while Seth and Lucas held me down. I called the cops after they left. Kevin was pretty bruised up and I tried to get him to calm down before the ambulance arrived. Hopefully Kevin doesn’t remember what happened that night. I broke up with Matthew at school when he was released from juvie. Unfortunately, word had gotten out that I was one of Matthew’s dates and things have gotten worse. People at school were whispering behind Matthew’s back, but no one dared to say anything about it to his face. Word had also gotten back to his parents over his bisexuality. One day he showed up at my house wanting to “make amends.” I should’ve known that it was a trap. He hugged me and then stabbed me in the back. He thought that I was the one that told his parents and everyone at school about him and me. He left me in the driveway for my parents to find me and I was taken to the hospital. I still have trouble lifting heavy stuff to this day over the wound I got. I have to have Hiroshi take care of the heavy boxes for me.”

Edd and Eddy remained silent. They did not know what to say about it. It was one thing to see Matthew torture Sasha on video; it was another to hear Sasha discuss every grim detail at what Matthew put him through. They could only offer Sasha a look of genuine sympathy at what he had gone through. Edd looked up when Sasha talked again, “so what are Matthew and his goons doing these days?”

“Seth owns a tattoo parlor, Lucas is in college, and Matthew just got fired from his job as a carnie. Matthew also has three kids from three different women and moved back in his parents’ house.” Edd replied.

Sasha snorted at hearing about Matthew becoming a carnie. Edd remembered that Sasha predicted that Matthew would become a carnie as an adult in the video. “Wanna hear something interesting? All three of them are a pedigree of some kind. Lucas is the son of an heiress, Matthew and Pipsqueak here are the descendents of the Peach Creek’s founding fathers, and Seth is the descendent of Lord Kanker.”

“Seth is a Kanker?” Eddy choked at hearing the news, “I thought his last name was Loveri-whatever.”

“His grandmother’s last name was Kanker until she got married and changed her name to Lovering. It was kind of funny seeing Matthew and Seth argue back and forth in history class over what happened between their ancestors.” Sasha responded. That would make Seth a distant cousin to the Kanker sisters. It’s not that surprising considering how small Peach Creek is.

“Hello, do you know the nearest way to the blood bank?” Ed asked, using a plastic skull with elongated canines as a puppet, “my new friend needs a little pick-me-up from there.”

“Your new friend needs to take a nap in a trashcan,” Eddy retorted.

“He can take that fake skull with him if he wants,” Sasha snickered, “you guys should be leaving soon anyway. I’ve got to get back to work and I better not see you three back at the bar for two more years. You can come visit my apartment anytime you want to, but not the bar.”

“Thanks for everything, Sasha,” Edd replied as Sasha led them out through the front door of Sasha’s house. “I promise we won’t tell Matthew or anybody that we talked to you.”

“It was no problem,” Sasha held the door for them, “-and honestly, I don’t care if you tell Matthew about our meeting or not. The police department is a minute away from my bar. If he shows up trying to start trouble, I’ll have the cops remove him.”


	26. Dark Secrets

They walked to the van, Edd’s and Eddy’s head was swimming over what they were told. Some of the things that Sasha told Edd about where almost the exact same things that Matthew put him through, the ultimatums and the persistence of the man were exactly the same things that Edd had to put up with. He sympathized with Sasha. He really did. Edd wondered how Eddy was handling the news. Hearing about how his sibling bullied one of his classmates and blackmailed the same classmate into becoming his own lover had to be a hard pill to swallow. What was probably an even bigger pill to swallow was that Matthew is keeping a dark secret from him. One that only Matthew, Lucas, Seth, and Sasha knew and would take to their graves. Edd could only imagine what was going through Eddy’s head at the moment.

A truck pulled into the parking lot across the street. It was the Kanker sister’s truck. Lee was in the driver’s seat. Marie was in the passenger’s seat and May sat in the trunk of the truck. The three were wolfing down fast food burgers and fries. Edd could see Ed swooning over the sight of the sisters and hoped that Eddy couldn’t see it. 

However, Eddy seemed more preoccupied with the place that the Kanker sisters were parked at. The building across the street had a few more cars than the Fuzzy Peach did. The sign on the building read `Medusa’s Hideaway.’ Edd was not sure what the place was. Along with the Fuzzy Peach, Medusa’s Hideaway was another place in Peach Creek that he was unfamiliar with. 

Eddy cackled, “The Kanker sisters are at a strip club. Oh man, that is rich! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let’s go talk to them.” As soon as they got into the van Eddy driven across the street and parked next to the truck.

“What are we doing here, Eddy?” Edd asked.

“Shush, Double D,” Eddy whispered. He honked the horn and yelled at the Kanker sisters, “I never expected you three to be here. Isn’t it too early to be thinking future job opportunities?”

“I never expected you to be here either, shorty,” Lee taunted back, “I’m waiting to pick Mom up from work.”

Eddy laughed even louder, “Is that so? I can’t wait to see your mom in her stripper uniform. Hopefully her body is not wrecked from giving birth to you three.”

“Eddy, quit antagonizing them!” Edd scolded from the passenger seat. While Edd and Eddy were not as scared of the Kanker sisters as they were when they were younger, the three sisters were still intimidating. 

Marie was the next to speak up, “Sorry, Eddy. I don’t think Mom would let you wear her clothes!”

“What was that, Marie?” Eddy coughed.

“Eddy, cut it out! It’s not funny! You’re annoying my brain!” Ed yelled from the backseat. The tallest Ed looked pissed and Edd did not blame him. One of Ed’s best friends was antagonizing the three girls that are Ed’s girlfriends.

“Marie was just saying that if you want to talk about hunks while we wait for Mom, you’re more that welcome to,” Lee replied, “we did see your van at the Fuzzy Peach.”

“What do you three know about the Fuzzy Peach?” Eddy asked, getting out of the van. He walked over to the front of their van and leaned on the hood of the truck. The three sisters giggled at him. Edd was used to those giggles and knew from experience that they were planning something devious. Sure enough, Lee backed the truck away with a screeching halt and Eddy fell forward, landing on the pavement face first. Lee parked in the next space over. Eddy lifted himself up; his cheek was scrapped from the impact. “That was a dirty trick, Lee!”

“He’s so amusing when he gets mad,” Marie replied.

“You’re dumb enough to lean on someone’s hood,” Lee told Eddy, chuckling, “No hard feelings though. As for your question, I do know that the Fuzzy Peach is a gay bar and that the bar is owned by a guy named Sasha.”

“Wait, Sasha owns that bar?” Eddy asked in surprise. “Whatever, I don’t care. You girls need to get laid once in a while.”

“I’ve already got a man, smartass!” Lee replied.

“You got a boyfriend? Must be the dumbest, lamest, most pussy-whipped guy in existence,” Eddy countered. Edd could only shake his head. If Eddy knew that Lee was talking about Ed who knew what would happen. Edd got out of the van hesitantly and stood next to Eddy, the evening air was cool. 

Ed got out after him. Behind Eddy’s back, Ed was waving to the sisters. Edd noticed each of the sisters was greeting Ed in an uncharacteristic subtle manner considering their over-affectionate behavior towards all three Eds when they were younger. Lee gave Ed a small smile, Marie winked at the tallest teen, and May waved back. Of course, Eddy did not notice it.

“Let me go! Let me go! Uncle! Uncle! ” Eddy yelped. Edd turned to find a female security guard putting Eddy in a full nelson. The woman had her dark brunette hair in a ponytail. Judging by her appearance, the woman had to be in her late thirties. The woman, whoever she was, was able to sneak behind them in an empty parking lot without being noticed. Edd was kind of reminded of how crafty and sneaky the Kanker sisters were when they were younger. He was not sure what to do in the situation. 

“Is this puke stain botherin’ you three?” The woman asked the girls.

“Nah Mom, it’s cool!” Marie shrugged, “We got you a burger and some onion rings for dinner. We might need to head back to the house before it gets too dark out.”

“She’s your stripper mom? She has the grip of a gorilla!” Eddy grunted, trying to free himself from the woman.

“Uh, Eddy. Strippers don’t dress that modestly at gentlemen’s clubs or wear an actual security badge.” Edd interjected. He should help Eddy escape from the woman’s clutches, but he was too intimidated by the security guard. The woman was just as terrifying to him as her daughters are. May headed back to the truck to get her mom her food. 

“They didn’t hire me for security at Medusa’s Hideaway because of my good looks, sweetheart,” The Kanker matriarch warned, “if you hurt my three girls, I’ll rip off your testicles and shove them down your throat!” She let Eddy go and shoved him away from her. Eddy groaned and rubbed the back of his neck, cold sweat dripped from his forehead. Ms. Kanker had to be the most terrifying person that he had ever encountered right after his own brother.

“Hi Cynthia!” Ed greeted the woman.

“Hello Ed,” Ms. Kanker greeted back, getting the bag with her food inside from May. She turned towards the girls, “I’ll be home around 2 am again. Be careful driving home.”

“We will, Mom!” Lee replied.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So you have three girlfriends, you sneak into adult video stores to buy videos, and you get into strip clubs, is there anything else you’re hiding from us, Lumpy?” Eddy asked while driving.

“Uh,” Ed looked around nervously, not wanting answer the question. 

“Could we discuss a more serious topic, Eddy?” Edd asked, sparing their friend from Eddy’s badgering.

“Like what?” Eddy asked.

“You know damn well what!” Edd snapped, “It’s not good to repress your emotions. Let’s talk about how your brother was in an abusive relationship with Kevin’s cousin? Let’s discuss how your brother, his friends, and Sasha went through a traumatic experience that they took an oath of silence as a futile attempt to help them cope with it. I have a couple of theories of what it could be, but these are amateur guesses. They could have been the potential victims of a kidnapper or serial killer who preys upon children or-“

“Or what?” Eddy asked, his grip clenching the steering wheel tightly.

“Let’s look at the facts of what Sasha told us. It had to be something that did not leave any visible marks. None of their parents suspected a thing, I assume. Their parents and other parents singled the house and its owner as dangerous. The house could’ve been owned by a mentally unstable individual or it could have been owned by a registered sex offender.”

“Can we just drop it? I don’t want to know what happened to my brother. I don’t want to even think about what happened. It’s easier just to accept that my brother is a complete dick and move on.” Eddy replied angrily.

Edd did not speak another word. The rest of the ride was so silent; they could easily hear each other shift around their seats. Ed was dropped off at his house first. The taller teen got out of the van carrying his new plastic “friend” with him. Ed gave them a sympathetic look as they driven two houses down back to their house. 

As soon as Eddy parked the van, they snuck into Eddy’s bedroom. Neither one of them wanted to deal with Matthew. Besides all of the things Sasha told them about Matthew, they also did not want to deal with Matthew while the man was consuming his weight in alcohol. Edd and Eddy both sat on the bed, unsure of what to do. Edd looked over at Eddy and noticed that the larger teen was brooding. Edd did not know what he could do to make Eddy feel better. There was no machine he could build to safely erase Eddy’s memories of the day. 

“Double D,” Eddy said quietly. 

“Yes, Eddy?” Edd asked just as quietly.

“I wanna try something.” Before Edd could ask what it was, Eddy leaned towards him and his hands gripped Edd’s sides. His chapped lips caressed Edd’s own, breathing deeply through his nose. The first question was if Eddy had gotten drunk without him noticing it, possibly stealing a drink from one of the bar patrons at Fuzzy Peach. However, Edd could not smell any trace of alcohol on Eddy’s breath. He could only imagine the reason why Eddy was becoming intimate with him.

Eddy’s lip poked out of his mouth a few seconds later, asking for entrance to Edd’s mouth. Edd opened his mouth and granted Eddy access inside. He laid back into the bare bed. Edd made a mental note to himself to switch around the laundry after they were done. Their tongues massaged each other in a sensual dance. Unlike Matthew’s kisses which were forceful and possessive, Eddy’s were sweet and unsure. It was almost as if Eddy was begging for his attention and his love with his tongue. Edd became dizzy with pleasure as he kissed Eddy back.

Edd peppered Eddy’s chin with open-mouthed kisses. He trailed down to Eddy’s neck and lapped at Eddy’s jugular vein. He could hear Eddy gasp as he teased Eddy’s neck with his tongue. “I discovered one of your erogenous zones, Eddy.” Eddy could only moan back as a response. Edd sucked on Eddy’s neck, marking the heavier teen as his. The sound of the door opening snapped Edd out of his trance. 

“This is not good,” Edd muttered. Eddy’s skin went pale when he seen who was at the door. Edd could feel Eddy shaking on top of him. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and cold sweat dripped down his neck. They were caught. They have been caught by the last person that they would ever want to catch him; Matthew.

“Looks like I need to separate you two,” Matthew remarked.

“Uh, hi bro! What d-do you mean by separating Double D and I?” Eddy stuttered. It was as if the sixteen year old was staring death in the face instead of his brother. Matthew’s eyes were bloodshot from how much alcohol he consumed and was carrying around a vodka bottle. The man was still drunk. Edd was amazed by how the man could still speak coherently and remain conscious. 

“Starting tomorrow, Princess’ shit would be moved into my room. Tonight, your little girlfriend will be sleeping in my room with me,” Matthew announced with a cruel grin. He walked over to the bed and yanked Double D off the bed by his wrist, “What kind of adult would I be if I let two teenagers carry on like horny rabbits, hmm?”

Edd frowned at the hypocritical nature of Matthew’s statement. It’s okay for him to fuck Edd, a teenager, but it’s not okay for Edd and Eddy to make out. Edd tried to pull himself him from Matthew’s grip, but the man had a pretty strong hold on him.

“Who the hell gave you the authority to do so?” Eddy rebelled. As soon the words slipped out, Eddy was hit in the jaw with the vodka bottle. Eddy’s face was starting to bruise and the vodka bottle was still intact. Edd called his friend’s name, fearfully. Matthew had hit his own brother with a vodka bottle.


	27. Possessive

“Eddy! Eddy, are you alright?” Edd cried out, trying to pull himself from the man’s vice-like grip. The only thing he accomplished from the action was that he looked like an ill-behaved child trying to escape their parent. The bruise on Eddy’s face was darkening and Edd sulked that he was unable to treat Eddy’s injury right away.

“Mom and Dad gave me authority over you two ankle-biters while they are away.” Matthew informed him with a haughty tone. “If there’s anything else you want to spew at me, go ahead!” Eddy groaned in pain, grimacing as he held his jaw. Matthew continued to taunt him, “Got nothing to say, you little pussy?” Eddy could only glare at his brother and received a swift kick in the stomach. Edd yelped as Eddy was kicked.

“No, I don’t have anything to say to you,” Eddy answered, groaning as he curled up in the fetal position. “Please, don’t hurt Double D! Please!” 

“You’re in no position to be ordering me around Pipsqueak,” Matthew growled, “now, if I see you again for the rest of night, I’ll put you in the goddamn hospital and tell the doctors there that you hurt yourself for attention.” Eddy didn’t answer him. 

Matthew continued, “Say good night to your girlfriend, Pipsqueak.”

“Just do what he says, Double D,” Eddy surrendered.

“Wait, that contusion might need medical attention,” Edd protested as he was dragged out of Eddy’s room. Edd was dragged across the hallway by his wrist. Edd thrashed around and kicked, trying to free himself from the man’s clutches. He shouted at Matthew, calling him every insulting word that he could think of. 

Edd was lifted up none too gently and held against the man’s form. He tried pulling away, but the man held his close. Matthew sneered, irritated at the younger man. “Are you quite through, you little slut? Or do I have to discipline you too?” Edd stilled himself when he heard the man’s threat. In order to help Eddy at least when morning comes, he had to be in better condition than Eddy himself. “Now when we head upstairs, Princess, you have quite to do to make it up to me.” Edd already had an idea of what the man wanted him to do.

“You are an imperious and possessive man, Matthew,” Edd replied. Possessive was the only word that came to mind regarding Matthew’s behavior. Matthew did not actually love him. Edd was certain of that fact. He was also certain that Matthew only viewed him like an object rather than a human being with his own goals and emotions. So possessive was probably the best word to describe how Matthew felt about him. The twenty four year old wanted him for himself and did not want anyone else to “claim” him. Edd could only mentally kick himself for not realizing this sooner.

“I honestly don’t give a flying fuck what you think of me right now.” Matthew shot back. Edd sighed. Matthew was not going to listen to him. 

Edd was dragged upstairs to Matthew’s room. The first thing Edd did when he was inside of the room was flop down on the patio chair that sat on the pile of sand in the room. He sulked as he listened to pair of heavy chains clank together. The whole sleeping arrangement reeks. The man’s façade of wanting to be a responsible adult was just another lie uttered from the man’s lips. Edd knew the true reason why Matthew separated them and had him sleep in his room. Matthew did it so he could have more chances to be alone with him. 

He heard the sound of the lock click as the Matthew locked the chains together. After that, he watched sourly as Matthew locked the rest of the locks on the door. Matthew was taking extra measures to ensure that Edd did not try to escape the room. He would not be able to escape the room until Matthew went to sleep. From all of the events that happened during the day, Edd also felt the familiar feeling of needing to rest for the night, so that he can feel recharged in the morning. At the moment, he felt a yawn coming on.

“Is all of that really necessary?” Edd asked as the man finished locking them both in the room.

Matthew turned towards him with an uncaring look on his face, “It’s to make sure you don’t make any midnight visits to Pipsqueak’s room. Gotta make sure you behave yourself.”

“All Eddy and I did was kiss. You and I have done a lot worse within the last 48 hours. Besides you knew that I was infatuated with Eddy before you started to pursue me. In fact, you used the fact that I’m in love with my best friend to blackmail me into giving into your lustful advances.”

Matthew stomped towards him and glowered down at him. He grabbed Edd up by his arm to where Edd was only an inch away from the man’s face. Edd could feel the man’s breath upon his cheek. Matthew growled, “That’s not the point and you know it! I don’t want to taste another guy’s cock on your lips when I kiss you and I definitely don’t want sloppy seconds when I fuck you, especially not from my own damn brother.” Edd opened his mouth to protest, but Matthew quickly shushed him, “you can’t honestly tell me that Pipsqueak and you wouldn’t have fucked each other if I didn’t interrupt you two when I did.”

“Well, under the circumstances, I-” Edd really did not know how answer that question. Given what he and Eddy had done when Eddy was not sober, it’s possible that he would’ve slept with Eddy if the other teen was both sober and willing to have sex with him. Though that would not be something that Edd would admit aloud to Matthew.

“Whatever, I still need you to make it up to me and I know exactly how you can do it.” Matthew purred, releasing Edd from his grip. Edd rubbed his sore arm that turned bright red from Matthew’s grip. There was a good chance that Edd would have another mark on him in the morning.

“What do you need me to do?” Edd asked. He already knew that the man was going to have him do something sexual.

“Have you ever heard of a lap dance, sweetheart?” Matthew asked him.

“The erotic dance that is performed by exotic dancers?” Edd winced. 

“Heh, exactly. All I want you to do is to put on a little show for me. I’m sure you can move those skinny twigs you call hips and legs.” Matthew smirked, touching Edd again. He rubbed Edd’s hips, despite making a crack about how skinny they were just a second ago, and withdrew his hands. Matthew strolled over to his bed and sat down.

“This is going to be so mortifying!” Edd groaned at what he was about to do.

“Suck it up, Sweetheart! You still owe me.” Matthew replied, curtly, “Come here and sit on my lap.”

Edd reluctantly did as the man instructed and sat in his lap. Edd felt like a child that was sitting in Santa’s lap – a very sick and perverse Santa at that. He couldn’t really compare it to sitting in a parent’s lap, because neither one of his parents believed in any kind of physical affection. The feeling of being in Matthew’s lap was extremely uncomfortable.

“Now move your hips and your butt against my crotch.” Matthew instructed huskily as he guided Edd by helping moving Edd’s hips, “there, just like that.”

Edd swayed his hips from side to side on the man’s lap. He could feel the man’s hot breath on the nape of his neck. This seemed to be the most awkward thing that Matthew have ever asked him to do. It was about as awkward as performing fellatio on the twenty four year old. The man pulled his hat off of him and tossed the hat onto the bed. Matthew’s hands travelled up his shirt and caressed his underarms and shoulders. The man lifted up his shirt up over his head and tossed it. 

Edd felt Matthew’s hands roaming across his naked torso. Strangely, he was reminded of all of the jokes Eddy told during class about creeps having a bad case of Roman hands. However, it was possibly a bad time to think about jokes Eddy made towards public parks within the city near Peach Creek. Matthew’s hands slid across his chest, mapping every single part of it. It was when Matthew started rolling his nipples between his fingers that he stopped his movement to let out a whine.

“Did I tell you to stop?” Matthew growled, yanking on one of Edd’s nipples. Edd let out another whine as his sensitive nipple was tortured. Somehow his brain begins to turn that pain into pleasure. Was there something wrong with him? Just a second ago he was in pain and now his whimpers of pain turned into wanton moans. 

Unfortunately, Matthew also noticed his predicament, “Looks like someone is turning into a little masochist. Does that feel good? I’ve got something that would loosen you up. Let me get up for a minute.”

Edd stood up to let Matthew up. He did not like the sound of Matthew using something that would make him more susceptible to the man’s advances, but at that point, he really did not have much of a choice. He was locked in the room and had no way out. He even started to suspect that Matthew might have purposely locked them in the panic room the night before. 

Matthew went to his closet and pulled out a half-empty bottle of vodka like a magician would pull out a rabbit from a top hat. Just how much alcohol did the man had stashed away in the house? “Gulp this down, sweetheart. It’ll take away your worries and help loosen you up.”

“I’m quite aware of alcohol’s ability to lower inhibitions, thank you,” Edd sneered at the beverage as it was handed to him. He still remembered the foul taste from when he and Eddy drunk together. Edd sighed. If the beverage would help him through the situation, what would be the harm? Disregarding his morals, he opened the lid and took the plunge. Edd gulped down the vodka. Gulp after gulp, he was starting to feel lightheaded and carefree. The alcohol was slowly working its magic inside of him. He did not even notice that Matthew was quickly stripping himself down to his boxers.

“Easy there, Princess.” Matthew cooed, taking the vodka bottle away, “wouldn’t want you to get sick now.” Matthew put the cap on the bottle and pulled Edd close to him. “I never thought I would have you sucking down vodka so willingly.”

“I’m fairing just fine,” Edd shot back. Matthew could only shrug as he held Edd close. The alcohol has not affected Edd yet. He rubbed circles on Edd’s hips and rubbed his crotch against Edd’s. Edd was starting to unwind, but he still needed a bit of time.

“How about you finish that lap dance, sweetheart.” Matthew suggested, unbuttoning and unzipping the fly on Edd’s jeans. He yanked down Edd’s pants and exposed the teen’s dark grey underwear. “I want to rub your butt against my crotch back and forth, instead of side to side like you were doing.” As soon as he sat down, he beckoned Edd towards him and smirked when he felt Edd sit in his lap. 

Edd slid up and down in Matthew’s lap in a tantalizing manner. It took most of Matthew’s willpower not to throw him onto the bed with and have his way with him again. Edd was his, so he had every right to take what he wanted from the teen. That was not his plan for tonight though. Matthew rubbed small circles on Edd’s stomach. Edd mewled at the touch and mutter some inaudible words. Matthew could tell that Edd was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. 

Matthew dipped his hand below the waistband of Edd’s underwear and fondled him. Edd moaned out, but continued his movement. Matthew coaxed Edd’s length into becoming erect for him. He decided then that he could not wait anymore for Edd. He had to have that little minx on his dick. He pulled Edd’s underwear down and was treated to the alluring sight of Edd’s backside. “Take off my underwear, Princess.” Matthew rasped. When Edd turned around and tugged on the waistband of Matthew’s boxers, Matthew stopped him and stood up, “-with your teeth, baby.”

Matthew had to admit, he loved Edd’s drunken personality. The teen was more pleasant when he was drunk. He did not make faces or protest when Matthew ordered him to do specific sexual acts. Edd did as he was asked and pulled Matthew’s boxers down with his teeth. Seeing the teen on his hands and knees before him was a real treat. Testing the limits of what Edd would do while intoxicated. “Alright, I want you to suck my balls and lube up my dick with your hand. The lube is in the nightstand,” he commanded.

Edd got out the lube from the nightstand and poured some unto his hands while Matthew kicked off his boxers and laid down on the waterbed. Edd crouched down near his legs and took Matthew’s testicles into his mouth. His cock jolted at the feeling. Edd stroked Matthew’s dick and lapped up the sweat from his lover’s testicles. Matthew’s dick was standing erect at the attentions Edd gave him. While he couldn’t get enough of the feeling, he wanted to move on to his favorite part of the night. “Stand up, Princess. I want your sexy little ass to ride my cock.”

Edd got on top of him, but the sixteen year old looks unsure of what he was supposed to do. Matthew sighed, Edd never ridden on someone’s cock before. “Put my cock into your ass and bounce up and down on it.” Matthew instructed. Sexually inexperienced individuals were cute as much as they were annoying in the bedroom.

Edd sighed at the fact that Matthew expected him to do everything. He gingerly grabbed Matthew’s cock that was behind him and stroked it a few times. He guided the cock to his entrance and put it inside of him. Edd hissed at the pain of having his insides stretched to fit Matthew inside of him again. This time, Matthew did not even prepare him. To make matters worse, Matthew thrust himself upward to fit the rest of his dick inside of Edd. Edd sat on top of the man with the man’s cock buried inside of his ass to try to adjust to the man’s size. 

Once he felt a bit more comfortable with the position, he started to bounce himself up and down on Matthew’s cock slowly, impaling himself upon it. He grasped Matthew’s sides to hold himself steady. After a while of doing it, he started to speed up his movement. Edd could easily feel the man’s body heat underneath him. The effects of the alcohol were also hitting him hard. His vision was becoming blurry.

Matthew suddenly flipped him over to where he was on top of Edd. He thrust inside of Edd with the speed of a wild animal. The man must have been holding back the night before, because he could hardly keep up with the man’s thrusts. He could tell by Matthew’s breathing that he was about to reach his peak. Edd let Matthew thrust into him until man came inside of him. Matthew did not stop thrusting in Edd after that. Matthew continued to assault Edd’s insides with his cock, now using his own cum as lubricant. Edd blacked out a few minutes later.


	28. Clean

Waking up from a deep sleep was hell. His head was throbbing with a hangover. He felt sick to his stomach. His genitals and backside hurt tremendously and he felt absolutely filthy. He hurt a lot worse than the night he lost his virginity to Matthew. There was semen on his stomach. Whether it was his or not Edd was content at never knowing the answer. It was quite obvious to him that he had sex with Matthew in the man’s own room.

Memories of the night before slowly came back to him. Matthew had purposely gotten him drunk after locking him in the room and forcing him to perform a provocative dance. Then Matthew had sex with him and that was when he passed out. `That vile, perverted fiend!’ Edd thought resentfully, ` if I wasn’t such a pacifist, I would’ve crushed his jugular veins with my bare hands!’ Edd could not help but imagine Matthew taking advantage of his unconscious body. He did not know whether he passed out drunk or if he experienced alcohol-related amnesia. It could have been either one of the two.

That was when Edd started to become aware of his surroundings. He was still naked underneath the man’s black blanket. He did not realize how connected to the man he was until he tried to turn over on his back. He felt the man’s body closely behind his own. Matthew’s arm was draped over Edd’s chest and his chest was against Edd’s back. Edd hissed at the feeling of something being inside of him. Edd’s eyes widened when he realized what exactly or more precisely who was inside of him. Edd slowly pulled the man’s cock out of him, hissing when he felt the man’s shaft move against the skin of his colon. 

Even stepping out of bed was a hassle. His stomach felt queasy and his whole lower body felt like he got hit by a truck. However, he was willing to ignore the pain to deal with a couple of important issues. Firstly, he needed to check on Eddy. Secondly, he needed to get into the shower and wash the smell of alcohol, sweat, and sex from his body. He felt like he did not have his own scent at the moment, he had Matthew’s scent. Edd had no idea if he actually smelled like Matthew or if his own mind was playing tricks on him, but he needed a shower and fast.

The only problem was that the door was locked. The only solution to that outpouring resistance Matthew called a door was to find the key among Matthew’s belongings. Edd quickly got dressed in his outfit from the day before and begun his search. After scavenging through old concert tickets, Zippo lighters, beach shells, and other various items in one drawer, Edd quickly closed the drawer he searched in and looked through another one. 

The next drawer was filled to the brim with pictures. Out of curiosity, Edd decided to look through them. Having a vague idea of how much alcohol the man consumed before, Edd figured Matthew would be out until noon. The first picture was a recent picture of Matthew and his friends in the entertainment room. The three were drinking and appeared to be in high spirits. The next three pictures were each of Matthew’s exes and the mothers of his children. In all three pictures, Matthew was posed in a weird position. In all of the pictures Edd had seen of couples, they were not posed like they were only in the picture together to shut up the cameraman. Edd had not seen such awkward body language in all of his years. Some of the pictures included girls that Matthew dated in middle school and high school, judging from the dates written on the photos. 

One of the photos contained a picture of Sasha with Seth. The only description Edd could give the picture was awkward. The only thing that faced the camera was Freddy Krueger’s deformed face on the `Nightmare on Elm Street’ novelty watch that Sasha wore around his left wrist. Sasha and Matthew were looking away from the camera in an awkward matter. The black `Lost Boys’ tee shirt Sasha also wore was also in focus. Edd hated to judge Sasha based on his appearance in the picture, but Sasha looked like the quintessential geek; someone who was more interested in niche pop culture franchises than academic studies. Judging from the writing on the photo, they were both fourteen when the picture was taken. 

The next set of pictures was of Matthew and his friends. According to the writing on the first photo, the photo was taken on Halloween when the three were Edd and Eddy’s age. The photo took place in an actual graveyard and the three teens in the photo were dressed up for the holiday. Lucas was dressed as a bloody doctor with fake blood splashed across the white doctor’s jacket. The porcelain mask Lucas wore with the costume was also covered in fake blood. The mask smiled an eerie, bone-chilling smile. Matthew was dressed as a vampire with fake blood dribbling down his chin and a black and red cape. Seth dressed as the Grim Reaper with his face painted black and white and a black hooded velvet cloak over his casual clothes. 

The next picture was of the three as twelve year olds and seemed to have been taken by one of their parents. The expressions on the three prepubescent children’s faces were quite alarming. Lucas smiled like a Cheshire cat. The smile on his face was as fake and eerie as the porcelain mask he wore for Halloween. Matthew was scowling at the camera quite menacingly. By the look of Seth, he was just starting to get into the rocker/alternative look that the man still supported in the present. The expression on Seth’s face was quite a serious one. To Edd, the twelve year old Seth looked wise beyond his years. To someone like Edd’s parents, twelve year old Seth would’ve looked quite intimidating to someone who did not bother to take a chance to get to know the teen first.

The last photo was of the three as eight year old children. Seth looked quite different as a child. Eight year old Seth sported camouflage pants, a white tee shirt, and an old army jacket that was several sizes too big for him. Instead of a serious look, Seth smiled sadly at the camera. Matthew had a mischievous grin upon his own face like he was planning on pulling a prank on someone. Instead of a fake and eerie smile, Lucas smiled a genuine smile at the camera. It was quite amazing how four years changed the three so drastically. The mysterious incident was most likely the catalyst for this dramatic change. The change was quite heartbreaking to say the least.

Edd put the pictures away to continue his search for the key. The search through Matthew’s belongings proved to be quite fruitless. Edd sighed in frustration there was only one way to get out of Matthew’s room and check on Eddy and he did not like that option one bit. Edd approached the door and got out two bobbing pins. 

Picking simple locks was not a talent that Edd would readily admit that he had. To him, there was something devious and criminal about picking locks. For that reason alone, Edd would not even attempt to do it unless there was an emergency like his current situation. Individuals might get the wrong idea about his character.

Edd was able to unlock the lock and removed the lock from the chains. Edd flinched when the chains clanged together. Edd looked over his shoulder to check to see if he awoken Matthew. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the man was still out like a light. Edd stuck the bobbing pins back in his hair and headed out the door, gently shutting it behind him.

Edd debated himself on what he should do first as he headed down the stairs; Check up on Eddy or take a shower. Another dwelling on the question as he walked towards Eddy’s room, he came up with a solution to the problem. He would check up on Eddy and then take a shower afterward depending upon Eddy’s situation. He would also treat Eddy after he had gotten his shower over with. It seemed like a reasonable plan.

He walked inside of Eddy’s room and assessed the situation. Surprisingly Eddy finished washing and drying his bedding and even made the bed after he was done. That meant that Eddy was able to move around easily. Edd also noted that Eddy was breathing alright with Eddy’s chest rising and falling steadily. However, Edd was more focused on if Eddy’s chin was swelled up or not. While Eddy’s chin was bruised, it was not swelled like someone who had jaw broken. 

Edd concluded that Eddy would be alright while Edd quickly took his much needed shower. Edd got a fresh pair of clean clothes and headed towards the bathroom. When Edd had stripped himself of his dirty clothes, he walked in the bathroom stall and adjust the temperature of water. The first feeling of water hitting his back was relieving. 

Edd furiously scrubbed every inch of his body to remove the scent of sweat, sex, and Matthew. The back of his thighs and his stomach was especially sticky and disgusting before the water from the shower and the scrubbing removed any trace of semen from those areas. He just needed to get clean again. After awhile, Edd decided that he was clean enough and got out of the shower and changed into fresh clothes.

After getting some of the essentials, Edd headed back to Eddy’s room and set the stuff on Eddy’s nightstand. Edd gently tapped his friend on the shoulder. Eddy blinked wearily and yawned. Edd smiled when Eddy woke up. “Hey Eddy. How are you feeling?” Edd asked as he got the ice pack and placed it on Eddy’s jaw. 

“I-” Eddy hissed when he felt the cold touch of the ice pack, “I’m doing okay, Double D.”

“You still have a dark contusion on your cheek, Eddy.” Edd informed him. “I hope that it is nothing too serious like a fractured bone.”

“Its fine, Double D. I’ve been hurt a lot worse by my brother.” Eddy replied emotionlessly. It is still hard for Edd to imagine how much hell Matthew put Eddy through during the years. While he had witnessed a couple of incidents where Matthew physically abused Eddy, he still did not witness most of the abuse that happened and hoped that he never have to.

“Eddy, we should still take you to the hospital to double check to see if your jaw is fractured.” Edd suggested.

Eddy turned to Edd and snapped, “-And then what? A doctor would check me out and then call child services. That’s what’s going to happen, Edd! Even if I did tell them that it was my own damn brother who hit me, they’ll still take us both away since my parents let him stay in the house and watch over us. Neither one of us might not see Ed, the rest of the cul-de-sac, or each other until we’re both eighteen. Goddamn it, Edd! Our lives are here!”

“I’m sorry, Eddy. I was just worried about you,” Edd apologized. He handed Eddy an aspirin and a glass of water.

“Don’t be,” Eddy replied, “just start this day with a clean slate and forget I’ve got this lousy bruise on my face. I can cover it up with Mom’s foundation.” Eddy popped the pill in his mouth and washed it down with a gulp of water. He set the cup back on the nightstand.

Eddy knew exactly how to cover up what his own brother did. Eddy must have been doing it for years, going to extreme lengths to lie to everyone and convince them that his brother was not abusive. It was heartbreaking to even imagine Eddy going through extreme lengths to prevent his own friends, the cul-de-sac and possibly his own parents from finding out the truth about Matthew’s abuse. Edd crawled in bed with Eddy and attempted to cuddle up with Eddy to cheer his friend up.

However, Eddy pushed him away. “Don’t Edd. I don’t want to be touched right now.” Edd slid over to the other side of the bed and laid there quietly. Only the sound of Eddy breathing and of the fan going can be heard after that.


	29. Following Ed

There are several ways Edd wanted to wake up after a short nap. Having various items thrown at him was not one of them. Edd’s eyelids felt heavy. He blinked them slowly trying to wake himself up from his nap. Edd dosed off into the darkness of sleep. He was only able to snooze for a minute until he heard Eddy’s shouts from beside him.

Edd leaped out of bed when he heard Eddy’s shouts and turned towards his friend. Matthew yanked Eddy out of bed by his arm. Matthew barked orders at Eddy like a belligerent drill sergeant. “Get off your lazy ass and get out of bed. You need to help Princess pack up his shit and move it into my room.” Matthew pushed him away harshly.

Edd leaped out of bed and pressed his back against the wall. His heart was racing as fast as his mind was. The combination of Matthew getting drunk the day before, Edd escaping Matthew’s bedroom, and Matthew catching Edd in bed with Eddy created the perfect storm. Edd could tell that Matthew was enraged. It was obvious to everyone in the room. Edd quickly gathered up some of his clothing, his eyes never leaving Matthew’s figure. Edd’s hands were shaking in fear as he put his clothing in a neat pile to be taken upstairs.

Edd yelped when Matthew turned towards him. Edd dropped down to the floor and curled up in a ball when Matthew approached him. Matthew got down on his knees and looked Edd straight in the eye. Edd shook as he felt the man’s hand on his chin. He shuddered at what the man had planned for him. He hoped that Matthew was not planning on hitting him or performing a sexual act upon him in front of the other teen. 

“We’re going to have a little talk about your little escape later. Get your shit packed up by tonight or I’ll do something that we both would regret later. Don’t think you’re getting off scot-free either. I’ll punish you later for your little Houdini stunt.” Matthew growled callously. Matthew stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

Edd was left stunned. He did not even imagine the “talk” he would have later with Matthew or what kind of punishment Matthew had in mind. Edd stayed quiet and worked alongside Eddy into packing his stuff up. Edd was grateful that he did not have very much stuff to pack. Edd quickly rushed towards Eddy and grabbed his microscope when Eddy was about to put the scientific instrument into a box Eddy got out to put Edd’s clothes in. “Eddy, you could’ve have ruined this microscope. It cost me over 200 dollars.”

“Fine, Double D!” Eddy huffed in annoyance. He set the microscope next to the box. “How did you get out of my brother’s room anyway?”

“I picked the lock.” Edd answered, “I was worried about your safety and got myself out of there as soon as I woke up. Your brother stayed up later than I did so I was not able to escape until after he fell asleep.”

“Gee, thanks Mom! I’m alright, so stop treating me like baby!” Eddy grumbled. He felt Edd prod at his cheek. “What are you trying to do? Make the bruise worse?”

“I’m just checking it to see if it’s broken,” Edd replied, removing his two fingers from Eddy’s cheek, “It’s only bruised, Eddy. Don’t worry; your most prized asset is not going out of commission any time soon.”

“Well, that’s a relief. I thought I was going to have to - Are you telling me that I have a big mouth?” Eddy exclaimed, yelling at Edd. Eddy’s eyebrow twitched when he heard Edd chuckle at him. “You weasel! Anyway, we’re getting out of this house for the day before anything else happens after we get your stuff moved.”

Edd nodded in agreement. “That’s actually a logical plan. We could head to Ed’s house to escape Matthew’s reign of terror for the day.” 

“Lumpy could use the company,” Eddy mused, “Gives him a break from those chicks he’s been seeing.”

“Mind-rotting B-rated horror films and Ed’s usual cheerful demeanor should be a pleasant change from the usual distress we’ve been having lately.” Edd grabbed up his microscope.

“You said it,” Eddy lifted himself up from the ground and stretched. His legs were starting to feel numb from sitting on them for too long. “Let’s get your stuff to my brother’s room before he starts his shit again.”

The two trips the teens made at moving Edd’s stuff into Matthew’s room were surprisingly Matthew-free. Matthew was not in his room or anywhere else in the house when they carried the boxes upstairs. While the thought of Matthew not being in the house was a welcome change, the thought that Matthew was going on another alcohol run quickly put a damper on their mood. It was more of a reason to get out of the house for a while. 

As soon as they stepped out, they realized that the rain had started up again. The rain drops pelted against Edd’s shoulders. If he had known that it was raining outside, he would have brought an umbrella along. However, Ed’s house was only two houses down and the last thing he wanted to do was to step foot inside of their house in case Matthew was still there.

The bottoms of their sneakers squeaked when they walked on the wet grass. The gentle sound of the falling rain was quite soothing to say the least. There was nothing quite like it. Edd remembered some of the times Ed, Eddy, and he would play near mud puddles during rainstorms. Well, Ed and Eddy would play in the mud puddles. Edd would stand on the sidelines until he got splashed by the two, getting his poncho and rubber boots wet. Of course, Edd would head home afterward and got scowled by his parents on the rare occasion that they were home.

Edd spotted Ed leaving his yard in the distance. He was not the only one who noticed Ed’s departure. Eddy frowned and whispered quietly, “Look at Lumpy over there. I bet he’s going to see his girlfriends again, the weasel!”

“Looks like we need to head back inside, Eddy.” Edd knew where Ed was possibility going, but he did not want to mention it to Eddy. 

“As if! Let’s follow ol’ Burhead and see where he’s going,” Eddy crotched down and prowled towards the back of his fence. Edd quietly followed behind him. He hoped for Ed’s sake that Ed was not heading to the Kanker sister’s trailer. Eddy quickly hoped the fence. Edd slowly climbed the fence after Eddy, cursing his weak muscles. Eddy glared at him as if to tell him to hurry up. Eddy had always been so impatient.

Edd could hear thunder in the distance. Silver lightning decorated the grey skies. The possibility of him getting struck by lightning was pretty low. However, the probability of catching a cold from weather was pretty high. It was also highly possible that the situation would not have a pleasant ending. Edd could already feel the rotten feeling creep inside of his gut. Edd wanted to turn back, but Eddy’s stubbornly ventured forward. 

They were led out of the lane and into a grassy field. The creek could be seen in the distance. The creek also held quite a few memories for Edd. The creek was where Ed, Eddy, and he held their cruise scam when they were just twelve years old. Ed and Eddy also went skinny dipping in the creek quite a few times, much to Edd’s secondhand embarrassment. 

One of more embarrassing incidents in the creek was when Edd was starting to go through puberty two years previously. Eddy and Ed had convinced him to go swimming with them while the two went skinny dipping. Edd, still being morally objected to nudity, wore red swim trunks in the creek while his friends swam in the creek as naked as jaybirds. His friends were feeling mischievous that day and snuck behind him and depantsed him. To make matters worse they played monkey in the middle with his swim trunks and Edd just started to get pubic hair that week and his testes started developing several months before. Of course, he tried desperately to get his swimwear back before anybody in the neighborhood saw him. 

His actions became his own undoing. He accidently exposed his genitalia to his friends when he jumped up trying to get his trunks from Ed. Ed and Eddy both noticed. Ed only responded with one word; “Cool!” Eddy, on the other hand, had a morbid curiosity of his sexual growth and asked all sorts of weird questions like if he sweats a lot more and got “morning wood” yet with a shit-eating grin on his face. It became one of the reasons why Edd started to see nudity in a more sexual way, especially around his own friends.

Edd crossed the creek by carefully walking on the moss-covered stones. When they had reached the other side of the creek, they both realized that Ed was heading down into the trailer park. They both had several memories of the trailer park and none of them were good. It’s where the Kanker sisters resided since they were twelve years old. For years, the Eds have avoided stepping foot in Park ‘N Flush unless they absolutely had to. The three sisters have tormented them every time that they even got remotely close to their place of residence. 

Eddy ducked behind a tire pile to avoid being seen. Edd was quickly yanked to the ground by Eddy. Park ‘N Flush was a dump. The familiar inoperable cars littered the Park ‘N Flush yards like oversized yard ornaments. The old neon “Park ‘N Flush” sign hung over the mobile homes. Some of the trailers in the trailer park were wearing down as the years had passed by. However, there was the occasional trailer that received some renovations. The trailer park also had quite a few clotheslines that did not contain any clothing at the moment, most likely due to the weather.

Eddy stalked towards one of the trailers and hid behind it, Edd closely behind him. Their actions aroused the attention of some of the dogs in the kennels, including a Rottweiler and an English bulldog. The dogs were barking wildly with their tails straight up. Their message was loud and clear; `Stay away from our territory.’ 

They looked towards Ed’s direction again and found their friend knocking on a white trailer. Edd thought it was a bit suspicious. The Kanker sisters lived in the light blue trailer. He did not honestly know if they still lived in the one trailer. He had not been to Park `N Flush for a couple of years. Ed was quickly led inside of the house.

“Let’s get a closer view,” Eddy suggested quietly. Eddy snuck behind another trailer with the grace of a cat. To anyone that might have viewed Eddy’s actions might confuse Eddy for a burglar and call the police. Edd hoped that did not happen. It would not only tarnish his reputation and his record, but it would also be hard to explain to Eddy’s parents once they return from following a lead on his own parents and it would be hard to explain to Matthew as well.

Beer cans litter the ground of some of the trailers. Some of the mobile homes even had the distinct smell of alcohol. Edd gagged at the smell as he followed closely behind Eddy. This trailer park would be the perfect place for Matthew to live if Matthew ever actively looked for another place to stay. However, it probably would not happen any time soon.

Edd’s shirt was already becoming damp from the rain. Edd had rung his shirt out from the dampness. He had always wondered what raindrops sounded like from inside an aluminum trailer. He always imagined that it would’ve sounded like water drops hitting a tin can, but he was not too sure. 

Eddy hid beside one of the windows and Edd quickly hid beside Eddy. Edd had a rotten feeling about this. The white trailer was one of the more properly maintained of mobile homes in the area. Eddy was the first to peek inside one of the windows. Edd was about to scold his friend for peeping when he seen Eddy’s jaw drop. Edd wondered what Eddy seen to have caused that reaction from the other teen. Edd’s curiosity got the better of him and he peeked inside of the window too. His jaw dropped as well. Following Ed and coming to the trailer park was a mistake.


	30. The Thunder Rolls

Ed’s body swayed to the rhythm Marie had set forth on top of him. She rode his cock with the gracefulness and talent of a horseback rider. Her black painted fingernails playfully scratched his muscular chest as she dominated his body. The two attached lovers were not the only ones in the room. Marie’s sisters May and Lee also were involved in the carnal activity. They both took turns to make out with Ed. Ed engaged the two in a heated kiss while fondling their breasts. May was the most endowed of her sisters when it came to breast size, followed second by Lee. 

The room the three were in was a dark red color. The carpet on the floor was black. The paint on the walls and the carpet seemed to have suited the décor. The walls were covered in posters of tools and finished artwork. An easel sat in one corner of the room and a tool box sat another corner. Car manuals and automobile magazines were stacked on top of the dressers. All four of the teens were on the full-sized bed in the room. Judging by the décor and how much Edd knew of the Kanker sisters since they first moved to Peach Creek, the room had to belong to Marie. The Kanker sisters and their mom seemed to have moved to a bigger trailer in recent years.

Edd really wanted to leave. It was bad enough that he broke the law with Eddy, but he had also intruded on the privacy of his dear friend and the three sisters. There was no reason to interfere with their coupling. Ed seemed to be content being the center of the three teen girls’ affection. However, Eddy looked like he had other plans towards the recent discovery of Ed’s secret. 

The hotheaded teen beat on the window with the same force as a police officer beating on someone’s door. Edd quickly backed away. He knew of the possible consequences for voyeurism and was afraid of the possibility that he would be put into a juvenile detention center if the police are called on them. The girls shrieked when they heard the rapping at the window. May and Lee shielded their breasts with their arms while Marie draped herself with a blanket. Ed screamed along with them as a reaction to them screaming. 

“Eww, it’s a peeper!” Marie yelled, gathering her clothes.

“It’s the lord of the hair, seeking to punish us for not shaving our crotches!” Ed screamed, hugging May tightly.

“You’re scaring me, Big Ed!” May whined, timidly patting Ed on the back.

“Everyone shut up!” Lee called out, putting her shirt on and grabbing for a cross wrench. She approached the window with caution, armed with the tool. She peered through the uncovered window at Eddy and scowled, “what the hell are you doing looking through our window? Damn pervert!” Lee turned to Ed, “hey, what is Eddy doing here?”

“Eddy’s here?” Ed’s ears perked at the sound of Eddy’s name. However, the excitement on his face changed to worry. 

“Tell Ed to get his ass out here! Now!” Eddy demanded loudly.

“Eddy, stop! Let’s be reasonable about this.” Edd pleaded.

“Can it, Sockhead!” Eddy shot back, waiting for Ed to come out of the trailer. Eddy had a stone cold expression on his face. His lips were pursed tightly. Eddy looked like he was gearing up for a fight. Thunder could be heard in the distance. Edd was helpless as he waited with baited breath as his whole world was about to crumble under his feet.

Ed stepped out of the trailer with a guilty expression upon his face. Even with Ed’s oblivious nature, he knew that Eddy was pissed. Ed was scared to death of Eddy and Edd sympathized with Ed in that moment. Ed was about to be torn between his lovers and his best friend. All three of them knew what was about to happen, but were powerless to stop it.

“Please have mercy, Eddy!” Ed pleaded.

Eddy sneered at Ed’s pathetic pleads, “You’re sleeping with the Kanker sisters? You’re dating those three hussies? Did you forget about how much hell they put us throughout the years or are you too busy thinking with the wrong head?”

“Eddy, calm down!” Edd attempted to soothe his friend.

“Double D, I thought I told you to shut the hell up!” Eddy shouted at him and turned back to Ed, “so Lumpy, any reason why you betrayed me and slept with those whores?”

“I love them, Eddy! Please understand!” Ed cried, sobbing into his hands.

“Bullshit!” Eddy spat, “you can forget about coming over to my house anymore. You can also forget about hanging out with me ever again. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t fucking exist anymore! You choose pussy over our friendship and you can have it!”  
Ed sobbed uncontrollably and babbled something unintelligible at Eddy. Ed’s sobs made Eddy even more livid and he advanced towards the sobbing giant. “Eddy, no!” Edd pleaded as he grabbed a hold of Eddy’s arm, attempting to pull Eddy towards him. Edd was shoved against the trailer with a loud thud and Eddy continued towards Ed. Edd just sat in the filthy mud dejectedly as he powerlessly watched the back of Eddy heading towards Ed.

What happened next happened too quickly for even Edd to comprehend. Eddy hit Ed square in the mouth and Ed could only scream “don’t hurt me!” Ed’s mouth started bleeding profusely. Ed moaned out in pain from the hit and Eddy was about to hit Ed again. Ed refused to fight Eddy back. Even after everything Eddy said about his girlfriends, Ed still refused the first friend he ever had. The rain was pouring on them and the lightening was flashing in the sky.

Before Eddy could hit Ed again, the Kanker sisters pulled open the front door fiercely and charged out onto the porch with the stance of an angry bull. “Hey tough guy!” Lee screamed at Eddy while her sisters went to nurture Ed, “get the hell off of my property before I kick your fucking ass!” She shoved Eddy off of the porch and into the mud. 

“With pleasure, bitch,” Eddy snarled. Eddy stormed off away from the trailer in a huff, hitting everything he could reach with his fist.

Edd turned towards Ed. Marie was lifting up Ed’s upper lip to assess the damage that Eddy did. She looked like she was examining a horse’s mouth instead of Ed’s. It was clear even from where Edd was sitting that Ed had cut his upper lip with his front teeth. Edd got up from his spot in the mud puddle. His side was hurting from being shoved into the trailer. He’ll deal with his filthiness and his pain later. His heart was hurting more than anything. It felt like his heart was being ripped apart with Ed and Eddy no longer on speaking terms. “Ed will need a wet washcloth to press onto the wound to make the bleeding stop and he’ll also need an icepack to numb the pain once the bleeding stops.”

Marie nodded at him and turned to her sister, “May, get a wet washrag and Ziploc bag of ice.” May nodded at her sister and got up to go back into the house. 

Edd started to walk towards Ed, but Lee stopped him, “you should get out of here. We don’t need visitors over at this time anyway.”

Edd nodded at Lee, understanding her situation all too well. Edd waved at his friend who was being lifted up by Marie, “I’ll see you some other time, Ed. You still have me as a good friend and you always will.”

Edd ran after Eddy as fast as his legs could let him. The sound of the dogs barking was deafening. He could not hear himself thinking as he ran in search of Eddy. Edd was absolutely soaked from the rain and from landing in the mud puddle near the Kanker’s trailer. His body was shivering from the cold rain and even his feet were cold from the insides of his shoes being soaked. He was too busy looking for Eddy to worry about getting sick.

He spotted Eddy near the creek and charged towards him, “Eddy! Slow down. Slow down, please!”

“Why? You plannin’ on betraying me as well?” Eddy asked bitterly, not slowing down.

“I’m not going to betray you and Ed did not betray you at the Kanker’s house,” Edd stated. “Besides, you were the one who laid hands on him.”

“Yeah, he did! He slept around with those three and kept it a secret from me!” Eddy retorted, “The guy deserved it! I don’t go around keeping secrets from him!”

“So you’re seriously going to stop speaking to Ed all together? We’re the three Eds for goodness sake!” Edd argued.

“Not anymore! If you don’t like it, you can leave me too! It’s no skin off my ass.” Eddy replied.

“I’m not going to leave you!” Edd protested, “I like being one of your best friends. I also like being one of Ed’s best friends too.”

“Why do you care so much?” Eddy asked, walking towards Edd and standing in front of him. “Ed’s and my friendship doesn’t concern you.”

“But you’re wrong, Eddy. It does concern me a great deal.” Edd explained, “You and Ed are more than brothers to me. We’re more than friends. You and Ed are like two-thirds of my entire being. Without either one of you two, I don’t feel whole. Seeing you two fight each other is unbearable. Remember when I told you two back when we were just twelve that you two were the only people I had in the world? I meant every word of it. What I said four years ago still holds true today. You are the only two people in my life that matter the most.”

“Damn, Edd,” Eddy rubbed the back of his neck nervously; “I’m still not forgiving Ed for what happen. Lumpy can figure shit out on his own without me.”

“You’re so stubborn!” Edd gritted, “Remember back when we were young? You were the one that came up to me and Ed. Ed told me about when you two were babies. He told me that you picked him to be your lackey. Just like you chosen me when I first moved to Peach Creek. You had to have more of a reason that you chosen us to become your lackeys and later on your friends than my brains and Ed’s brawn. Your brother taught you everything you knew about scamming. Did he tell you to look for something within people?”

“It’s none of your business,” Eddy snorted, “you’re over thinking this whole thing. Besides how do I know that you’re not going to leave me when some dude comes along?”

“Excuse me?” Edd blinked, “I would never leave you. You have to trust me on this one.”

“Prove it! Last time I checked, you’ve been being secretive too! Of what, I’ll find out sooner or later. The point is how do I know that you’re not just going to fuck me over?” Eddy challenged him.

“Eddy, you can trust me!” Edd protested. Eddy was paranoid of him over Ed’s actions and Edd had no clue how to calm Eddy down.

“Prove it!” Eddy repeated, louder. 

Edd was at a loss of what Eddy expected out of him. How could he possibly show Eddy how much he could trust him? Edd thought for a moment and extended his arms out towards Eddy. He wrapped his arms around Eddy in a gentle hug. Eddy did not fight against the hug or protest against it. Edd knew Matthew was the true source of Eddy’s hidden low self-esteem and mistrust of others. Matthew messed around with Eddy’s head and had him believe that everyone would mistreat or abandon him like Matthew constantly did. Edd quietly cooed to Eddy and rubbed his back, “everything will be alright, Eddy. You can trust me. I’m not going to abuse you or abandon you.”


	31. Chili Con Carne

Edd shivered once he entered Matthew’s – and now his new bedroom. He was soaked to the bone and desperately needed another shower. He looked around the room and seen that Matthew was nowhere in sight. Before they returned home, both Edd and Eddy agreed that they should change and shower in different rooms to avoid provoking Matthew’s ire again. 

Edd pulled off his damp shirt and took a quick glance at the boxes in the room. Luckily for him, he remembered which box he put his pajama sets in and reached into it to pull a pair out to wear for the rest of the night. He set the clothes down on top of the boxes when he noticed a lone magazine sitting on the bed open. 

He peered at the contents of the magazine. He let out an undignified girlish squeal when he found out exactly what the magazine contained. The magazine contained a picture of two men engaged in a sex act that took up a page. One of the men looked like he either had a vigorous workout routine or had been medicating himself with steroids. The other man in the picture was more slender than his counterpart, but was more in shape than Edd would ever hope to be. The more brawny man held the other against him with his arm wrapped around the other’s throat while having sex with the other male. The slender man looked content at the rough treatment.

Edd slowly backed away from the magazine. He turned around at the sound of the door opening and closing. Matthew was only clad in a towel and had water dripping from his bare body. Edd caught the whiff of dandruff shampoo, shaving gel, and soap from the man. Matthew removed his towel and used it to dry himself off.

Despite his best judgment, Edd could not help but stare at Matthew’s naked body. He hated that man with every fiber of his being, but he still found the man attractive. For what reason, he may never know. Hormones were traitorous and complicated. He gaze lowered to Matthew’s nether regions; a part of Matthew’s body that Edd was already too familiar with.

Matthew caught Edd staring and snickered. Matthew waved his dick tauntingly at Edd causing the teen to roll his eyes and turn away from him. “You’re quite muddy. What have you been doing to get that dirty? Anything that you were not supposed to?”

“I’m not in the mood for your insinuations,” Edd snapped quietly. He threw a robe over himself and closed it around himself tightly. He then quickly rid himself of his pants and his boxers. He figured he would deal with his clothing later. Changing like that was almost like all of the times he undressed under a towel in the boy’s locker room whenever his gym class had to go swimming. 

Matthew could only smirk at Edd’s modesty and leaned over the nearly nude teen, draping his arm around the sixteen year old youth, “so when shall I begin that punishment for you? You’ve been acting up lately and I would love to straighten you out.”

“I’m quite busy at the moment. I got to shower again and then prepare dinner.” Edd explained, bristling at the “punishment” comment. He did not want to know what the man had in mind when it came to punishment, but he certainly did not want to find out. He tried to pull himself away from the man, but backed himself against wall instead.

“Just keep something in mind, if I’m not happy, nobody else in this damn house is going to be happy. The only two things that make me happy is drinking booze and getting my dick wet. You’re the only one in this house at the moment that seems perfectly capable of making sure my cock is content at all times.” Matthew dictated, trapping Edd against the wall.

“Well, you’re just going to have to settle for having your stomach content,” Edd retorted. He did not want to stoop down to Matthew’s level in that moment, but he really needed to get in the shower and wash himself up. Edd lifted up his leg in an attempt to knee Matthew in the crotch. The man anticipated Edd’s actions and crossed his legs to prevent himself from getting kicked. 

Edd used the distraction to his advantage and ducked under Matthew’s arm, stumbling away from the man. He quickly grabbed his clean clothes and darted out the door. As he scurried toward the bathroom, he heard Matthew call out behind him, “have fun with that, sweetheart! Just remember, you still need to be punished. I’m not going to tell you when or how I’m going to do it, but you will get punished eventually.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Edd sprinkled more red pepper into the batch and stirred it into the pot. As he waited for the chili con carne to get done, he stood in front of the stove as still as a statute in an oversized red shirt and a pair of grey sweats. His hair and sockhat was still damp from his shower. He released a quiet, angry tirade to no one in particular. “That inconsiderate perverse ninny, castration would be too good of a comeuppance for him!”

He turned off the stove when the chili con carne was done. He called out to Eddy and Matthew to let them know that dinner was ready. He gotten out the bowls and spoons and set them on the counter. The night seemed like a perfect night to make chili con carne. It was a rainy and chilly night, no pun intended. Plus, he made enough to where all three of the house occupants would have plenty of leftovers for a few days. 

Edd got a ladle and poured himself some chili. He took his bowl of chili con carne to the table and sat down with it. He let the meal cool on the table beside him. He noticed that Eddy and Matthew were not at the table yet. He yelled out for the two brothers again, telling them to come get their dinners before the chili con carne gets cold.

The pitter patter of feet resonated throughout the house. Matthew and Eddy were both on their way to the kitchen. Edd took the first bite of his meal and enjoyed its spicy goodness. He was thankful that he came up with the idea on short notice. The night was definitely a night to consume chili con carne with Eddy.

Suddenly the door bell rang and Eddy shouted that he’ll answer it. Matthew came into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl. Matthew flopped down at the table and begun devouring his chili con carne. The man did not even have the decency to put on a shirt or pants and sat at the table wearing only his boxers. `Matthew’s table manners are atrocious!’ Edd thought to himself as he took another bite of his food. Edd was used to bad table manners, especially from both Ed and Eddy, but at least they never sat at a dinner table half-naked.

“I don’t know why you spend all of your time on that book stuff. You would be set for life as a housewife – and a porn star between the sheets.” Matthew remarked.

`His table manners are the most deplorable that I have ever witnessed,’ Edd thought bitterly. Matthew is the only person that managed to get on every last one of Edd’s nerves. “Unlike you, my ambitions don’t include staying home all day.” It was a crude thing for Edd to utter, but he was too irritated to care at the moment.

“Oh, I’m sure your parents worked you like a slave because they wanted their baby boy to become a scientist,” Matthew taunted with a smirk.

Edd’s nostrils flared as he was about to pour out his irritation and anger out on Matthew. However, doing so would not change anything. Edd continued eating, ignoring Matthew for the most part. The man continued to taunt him by rubbing his foot along Edd’s leg. Edd rolled his eyes and continued to eat.

Suddenly a scream could be heard from the living room that was as loud as a mountain lion’s roar. Eddy screaming at the unknown visitor could also be heard. The next set of indistinct screams undoubtedly came from Sarah. Edd was about to run towards the sound when he heard Eddy slamming the door and shouting, “get off of my damn doorstep, you little bitch!”

Eddy stomped his way towards the kitchen. His face was marred with tiny crescent moon scratches. The bruise on Eddy’s cheek had gotten worse as if Sarah had punched him in the same spot as where he was hit with an alcohol bottle the night before. Eddy had gotten his bowl of chili con carne and sat down next to Edd. 

“My goodness, Eddy! Are you alright?” Edd shrieked as Eddy picked up his own spoon.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sarah’s just being a moody little cunt today.” Eddy grumbled, gingerly taking a bite of chili con carne. “This chili is pretty good by the way.”

“I can’t believe you got hit that hard by a girl.” Matthew snickered, “you know you can always spray her with a hose to get her off our lawn, right?”

“Yeah, well, that girl hits like Mike Tyson!” Eddy replied.

“Did she say anything before she hit you?” Edd asked.

Eddy shrugged, “just that she was pissed at me for making Lumpy cry and giving him a fat lip. Girls. Who could figure them? Also, that rat Jimmy was right behind her. Watching as Sarah tried to claw my eyes out like an angry cat.”

“You know, Eddy. You should apologize to Ed. Ed is obviously distraught over what happened. Enough for Sarah to come over and release her rage out on you. You should try to go over to Ed’s house and try to reason with him. Ed probably was afraid that you would react this way towards the news that he has been romantically involved with the Kanker sisters. He obviously had a good reason for not telling you about it. Sometimes it is better to suppress important information from our friends in order to keep peace.”

“Whatever, I honestly don’t care.” Eddy muttered. 

The rest of the dinner continued in awkward silence. Neither of them wanted to say another word to each other. Eddy ate his chili con carne while brooded over recent events. In a way, Edd could kind of understand why Eddy was so upset at Ed. Ed did not trust Eddy or Edd for that matter to understand his relationship with the Kanker sisters. Though, judging from Eddy’s horrible reaction to the news, Ed also had a good reason to keep it a secret from them. Edd could only hope that Eddy never found out about what has been going on between him and Matthew. Eddy would probably be even more furious at the news than he was when he found out about Ed and the three sisters.

Then he turned to Matthew to see the man grinning deviously at him. Edd turned away and ate more of his meal. Edd still had no idea what the man meant when he said that he was going to “punish” Edd and did not want to know either. It could mean anything vile that the man could possibly think up as far as Edd was concerned. He just hoped that he did not end up in the same position as Sasha did years ago. That possibly was worse-case scenario though.

Edd was the last of the three to finish eating his dinner. He took his empty bowl to the sink and rinsed the bowl out. Even though his stomach was satiated from the meal, his stomach was still doing somersaults from imagining what Matthew could possibly have planned for him. He was not too sure that he and Eddy would continue to be alright living in the same house as Matthew. Though, the two had nowhere else to go.


	32. Punishment

A couple of days had passed since the incident with Ed. Eddy still would not forgive Ed for reasons unknown to Edd. That did not stop Edd from sneaking out of the house when he could to console Ed and bringing over food dishes over to the gentle giant, including pudding skins. Even Ed’s favorite food could not ease the teen’s sorrow. Ed sobbed into his hands, his eyes tinted pink while Edd did whatever he could to console his friend. 

Edd also tried to cheer up Eddy as well. The larger built teen sulked in his room, flipping through magazines and blaring music from his record player. Edd might as well been a fly on the wall during those last couple of days, because Eddy barely spoke to Edd or to anyone for that matter. Eddy remained in his own world and tuned out most of the people around him for fear of getting hurt again by someone he thought he could trust.

Ed and Eddy’s behavior was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to Edd’s perturbation. Edd could have sworn that he could smell Matthew all over him. He could smell the man when he sniffed his own arm. He could smell the man on the tips of his fingers and everywhere else. Even after Edd took a shower and scrubbed himself raw, he could have sworn that he still can smell the man on him. Edd could not figure out if it was just in his head or if he was actually starting to smell like the man, but he made sure that he did not get too close to Eddy or Ed just in case they could smell Matthew on him as well.

The fact that Matthew had sex with him every time the man got an itch he could not scratch by himself did not help Edd’s anxiety. It was quickly becoming some sort of sick habit of Matthew’s. Matthew would wait until Edd was alone to proposition him for sex. It was the same tedious routine that Edd despised greatly. Matthew expected Edd to act like a porn star to whatever he had desired and Edd reluctantly gave in, which brought them to the current position they were in.

Edd once again found himself naked in Matthew’s water bed. Matthew sat on the edge of the bed removing his last bit of clothing. Matthew’s greedy eyes roamed across Edd’s body as he laid there motionless. Matthew idly felt up on different parts of Edd’s body. Edd squirmed at the feeling of Matthew’s ice-cold hands upon his skin. 

“I’m surprised by how well you can take a dick now,” Edd looked at him sourly, “Oh ho, what’s that look for? It was a compliment, sweetheart. I love it when little cuties like you can fit all of me inside of them. I’ve got a pretty big dick and it feels so much better when there’s a bit of wiggle room. Matthew leaned toward over Edd and grazed his teeth upon the flesh of Edd’s neck. Matthew teased the bitten flesh with his tongue. “You know, Girlfriend, I was quite a little slut are your age. My parents kicked me out and I was free to do what I want. I had older guys and girls convinced I was 21. I carried myself as an adult and they never found out. I also had them buying me booze and drugs whenever I wanted. It was also quite a power trip to see a thirty year old guy with his ass in the air begging me to fuck him against his car or a 28 year old woman compliment the way I fucked her. I wouldn’t have been able to get any of that shit if they knew my real age at the time.” A rogue chuckle escaped the man’s lips.

“I’m not interested in your past youthful follies in the least.” Edd snorted, unamused. Despite his protests, his body responded positively to the man’s closeness. His cock was already starting to become erect and was starting to produce precum. 

“Looks like you’re interested in something,” Matthew responded, lowering himself down in front of Edd’s lower body, “I bet you can’t wait to get fucked, can you?”

Before Edd could respond, he felt the tip of the man’s tongue pleasure the tip of his dick. Edd shuddered at the pleasure the man’s wicked tongue brought to him. The feeling did not last long though. Matthew withdrew his tongue and flipped Edd over on his stomach. Matthew also straightened out Edd’s legs and throttled his thighs.

The feeling of Matthew’s legs on top of his own was uncomfortable to say the least. What was the twenty-something ex-carnie up to now? Matthew positioned himself behind Edd’s cheeks and spread them, revealing Edd’s pink hole to him. Matthew did not give Edd much time to relax before he slid himself inside of the younger male. Edd let out a small yelp at the intrusion. Matthew did not give Edd much time to adjust as he begins to thrust inside the teen. 

Edd was so afraid of the man tearing something inside of him. During the last few times, Matthew only used saliva to lubricate himself and did not bother to prepare Edd for the previous intrusions. When Edd questioned him about it, Matthew only shrugged and stated that Edd was becoming “loose” and did not need it. Edd begged to differ.

His ass was smacked hard; the flesh of it stung and formed a red handprint. Much to Matthew’s amusement, Edd yelped from the pain. Edd felt the man’s nails rake across his back. Matthew was relentless with his thrusts. The sweet spot inside of him was hit continuously. Edd mewled at the contact; causing Matthew to guffaw at the younger’s reaction.

“Jesus, Sweetheart. You seem to enjoy my cock a lot.” Matthew breathed huskily, “Perhaps you’re going to be an even bigger cockwhore by the time you’re my age. I’d love to see that! I bet you can be very sexy when you beg to be used like a whore and pout those sexy cocksucking lips of yours.”

Edd did not have the emotional or the physical strength to protest against Matthew’s derogatory words. Matthew would not listen to him anyway. Matthew’s body continued to rock against his own. He felt the man lean into him and kissed the back of his neck. The open-mouthed kiss quickly turned slightly painful as Matthew bit into his nape. Edd cried out from the feeling. His sense of pain was turning into pure pleasure as Matthew lapped at his neck. He was sure that he sure he was going to have another mark there. Matthew lifted his own up and continued his assault of Edd’s ass.

The sound of the door opening made Edd hyper alert, he turned his head towards the sound and seen the individual that was at the door. His breath hitched and he stared the person with alarm and shame. His biggest secret was now exposed. He tried to lift himself up to stop the shameful display and get away from the person’s accusing eyes, but Matthew pushed him back into the mattress. 

“Easy there, Princess. We’re not done here yet,” Matthew turned towards the door and laughed wickedly at who was at the door, “I wasn’t expecting you here for another half hour. What’s the matter, Pipsqueak? Upset about your girlfriend?

“I came a little early,” Eddy replied, scowling. Eddy stared his brother in the eye, enraged by the immoral sight before him. Eddy did not dare to look anywhere else lest he wanted to start a fight with his own brother. “I never expected you to do something this low.”

Edd tried to do the math in his head of the timeframe in which Matthew was expecting Eddy. No matter how Edd did the math, he was certain that Matthew purposely intended for Eddy to catch them in a sex act. The only difference was that Eddy would’ve arrived when Matthew came inside of him. The thought infuriated Edd. It was becoming clear that this was the punishment Matthew had planned; to embarrass him in front of Eddy.

“What? Are you going to cry now that I deflowered your precious girlfriend?” Matthew taunted, withdrawing himself from Edd’s body. “You’re the one that dangled this pretty little thing in front of me. You’re a fucking retard if you expected me to keep my hands to myself and not fuck him against the wall the first chance I got.”

Edd hated the way that Matthew talked about him to Eddy. Edd hid his head away in shame and hoped that he could just disappear into thin air at that very moment. He was too ashamed to say anything in his defense. He cocooned himself in blankets, hoping that his illogical wish to disappear in that moment would come true.

“This isn’t right,” Eddy uttered lowly.

“According to who? Mom and Dad?” Matthew asked.

“When did it start happening? Why did you do it, Bro?” Eddy questioned, desperate for answers. 

Matthew lit himself a cigarette from the nightstand and inhaled, “I don’t have to tell you shit, Pipsqueak. I fuck whoever I want to.”

The words Seth told him repeated in Eddy’s mind like a broken record; `He hounded after wimpy-looking, mousy guys that probably weighed as much as a twig. The type of guys that you would expect not to put up much of a fight when Matthew pursued them . . . Mattie is a horndog. If he sees a man or woman he wants to bed, he’ll do it and won’t give a damn about the consequences, whether they were married, jailbait, or god knows what else.’ Eddy was growing angrier by the second, “you’re a goddamn pedophile! You’re a sick bastard! Double D is my age for fuck’s sake! You were supposed to be watching us! All you’ve done since you got here was drink your weight in booze! Now you molested Double D who mom and dad left in your care.”

“Molested? You think I raped your little lackey?” Matthew laughed harshly. Despite the laugh, Eddy could hear it in Matthew’s own voice on how offended he was at the rapist accusation. Eddy wondered if his own brother and his brother’s friends were victims of a child molester. “You’re priceless, Pipsqueak. It didn’t take much for Sweetheart to get a stiffy and cum for me.”

“You’re sick!” Eddy retorted.

“I really don’t care what you think, so get lost!” Matthew replied, waving him off, “I’m not quite finished with your girlfriend yet.”

Eddy stormed towards Edd, grabbing his friend’s jeans off of the ground. “Not going to happen. We’ve both going out for a while. Don’t even bother following us! It’s not like you were ever concerned for our well-being since you’ve been in charge.” 

Eddy quickly grabbed Edd by the arm and dragged him off of the bed. He did not have time to do anything else but grab a sheet to wrap around his waist and stand up. “Come on, Sockhead! I don’t have all day!” Eddy grabbed Edd by the wrist and quickly led him out of door. 

“Hey, get back here!” Matthew shouted and chased after them. 

Eddy led Edd down the stairs and out of the front door with the speed to rival a track runner. Edd clutched the sheet he was wearing, desperately trying to remain covered up as they ran out of the house. Edd felt embarrassed to be dragged out of the house, wearing only a bed sheet, but he did not want to turn back and face Matthew’s wrath. 

Eddy dragged him inside of the van and shut the door quickly. Edd flinched at the way the van door was slammed. Eddy did not say a word to him which put Edd ill at ease. Did Eddy blame him for giving in to Matthew’s sexual advances? Eddy got into the driver’s seat and closed the door. He pulled the car keys out of his jeans pocket and started up the car. Eddy quickly put the car into reverse and sped away from the house.


	33. Coming Clean

The van was driving erratically on the road. The sound of car horns can be heard in the distance. The lights of the cars irradiated the inside of the van for a split second. Edd was so scared of them getting pulled over or crashing the van that he held onto the back of the passenger’s seat for dear life. He managed to change into his pants underneath the sheet he was wrapped in. “Eddy, reduce your speed! Stop!”

Eddy took one glare at Edd and continued his driving. Eddy looked at the road with deadly determination and extreme focus as if he was racing the devil. Where Eddy was heading to, Edd did not have a clue. All he knew was that Eddy was driving past the speed limit and the van was almost out of gas.

“Eddy, pull over! We’re almost out of gas!” Edd yelled out from the backseat.

Eddy made a sharp left-turn into the parking lot adjacent to the Fuzzy Peach and parked in the middle of the empty abandoned parking lot. The large parking lot was obviously not a part of the same small parking lot that belonged to Sasha’s business. The area either had to have been an old abandoned drive-in theater or an old fast food restaurant where carhops in roller skates served greasy food to patrons in bright, flashy cars. The small building at the end of the parking lot was in disrepair due to decades of neglect.

A series of loud noises broke Edd from concentrating on his surroundings. Eddy smashed his fists into the steering wheel and repeatedly kicked the dashboard. Eddy let out a loud frustrated groan. Then Eddy repeatedly head-butted the steering wheel in a fit of rage, the honk honked every time his head hit the steering wheel . “Stop it! Control yourself!” Edd shouted, pulling Eddy towards the seat.

Eddy pulled away from Edd’s hold and hit the steering wheel again with his fists, “all I wanted in my entire life was a regular big brother! Not one that drinks, hits me, and sleeps with everyone including my friends! Goddamn it! I never wanted a drink more in my goddamn life!”

“Eddy, I’m sorry about your brother and you finding that like that,” Edd apologized, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“So what the hell happened?” Eddy asked, coldly.

“I beg your pardon?” Edd asked, bewildered.

“When did that sick bastard started to-” Eddy choked up before he could finish the sentence.

Edd looked at his hands that were balled in his lap shamefully, “he advanced on me within a couple of days of him moving in and he first sodomized me at Lucas’ residence when he and I were locked in the same room for the night.” 

“I never thought he would stoop so low.” Eddy grumbled. The next question caught Edd by surprise, “Did he rape you?”

“Not exactly,” Edd tried to explain, “I was blackmailed into accepting his romantic advances.”

“Blackmailed with what? Did he blackmail you over you being gay? If not, what the hell have you been hiding now?” Eddy scanned Edd’s face like a difficult puzzle to solve. 

Edd turned away from Eddy’s intense gaze, “It’s not over my homosexuality. It’s over something else entirely.”

“Then what has he been blackmailing you with? Getting a straight answer out of you recently is like making out with you, you only go so far and stop when things start getting good.” Eddy complained, rubbing his nails through his gelled hair.

“I don’t want to tell y- Wait, you recall those times?” Edd asked, shocked. When he heard that, he flinched. Did Eddy think of him as some kind of pervert for making out with him while he was intoxicated? Edd scanned Eddy’s face for any trace of disgust or anger toward him. So far, the only emotion he could read on Eddy’s face was anger. Eddy never did have a very good poker face, especially when he was excited or upset.

“Yes, I remember us making out! I was fucking drunk, not roofied! I remember us making out at Lucas’ in that room with the waterfall, the fish, and the plants. We also made out in my brother’s room and in my room! Why the hell would you think that I wouldn’t remember that?”

“You gave me no sign that you remembered what happen!” Edd exclaimed, rubbing his own neck nervously.

“So you would’ve kept making out with me and continued to keep it a secret from me if I didn’t remember?” Eddy asked.

“That was never my intention. Quite the opposite, in fact. I never wanted to take advantage of you. That’s why I pushed you away all of those times. It wasn’t because I thought negatively of the notion of getting romantic with you. I wanted it to happen, but didn’t want to hurt you. In fact, that’s what Matthew blackmailed me with. He found out about my romantic feelings towards you by reading a journal in which I kept all of my inner, most private thoughts in.”

Eddy sighed and added quietly, “-But I wanted to be taken advantage of though. I don’t give a rat’s ass if I’m drunk, high, or dying.”

“What are you saying?” Edd asked.

Eddy got out of the driver’s seat and sat on the balls of his feet in front of Edd. The navy-haired teen smiled a crooked smile at him. One of his eyebrows rose. He had a seductive look in his dark eyes. “You want me, don’t ya?”

“It’s not that I don’t like you, it’s just that I don’t think it is an appropriate time to consummate our relationship. The van is out of gas and your brother could be here any moment to hurt us or take us back there.” Edd protested.

“Ugh, listen, Double D. I’ve got to completely honest. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.” Eddy admitted, “There, happy? Even if we did run, we would be listed as runaways. We would have to give up our family, our friends, and our whole lives. Even if we did come clean to the cops, what then? We’ll both be separated and be taken away from everyone we love until our 18th birthday. I wish I could tell you that I could fly us both away from the hell that my brother has pulled, but sadly I can’t do it. I’m sorry, Double D. Fucking bastard probably already knew that when he showed me that – Goddamn it! Fucking sick bastard probably showed me that to claim you as his property! If you want to run, I don’t blame you, but I don’t guarantee that it would help.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you, Eddy!” Edd shouted a bit too harshly. “Besides, you’re right. There’s no sense in giving up our lives and futures to him. In the future, I’m going go to college and become one of the many fine educators in Peach Creek. I want to teach the bright young minds of the next generation and I wouldn’t give that up for anything in the world.”

“You’re the only one I know that would want to spend the rest of his life inside of a classroom,” Eddy joked dryly, sitting next to Edd, “As for me, I’m so going to be done with school when I get my diploma. Fuck college! I already despise schools and teachers enough. I don’t want to spend more time in school than I have to. I’ll find other ways of making money. I always do.” Eddy took Edd’s hand into his and held it gently. The feeling of being open with Edd was a relief on him. The closer he got to Edd physically and emotionally, the more he wanted.

“Well, you wouldn’t be Eddy if you actually tried to earn money legitimately and took an interest in school,” Edd replied sarcastically.

“You better believe it, Sockhead,” Eddy winked at him.

Edd blushed and turned his head to the side to shyly hide his face, “what happened to you wanting to pursue me sexually?”

“I got distracted, but I still want to.” Eddy replied. He put his arm around Edd’s waist and held him close.

“Are you sure y-you want to do it here. I mean, there are better places where you could lose your virginity and better people you can lose it to. As you already know, I’m not a virgin, so-“

Eddy shushed Edd by kissing him, “you’re over-thinking this, just relax! There is not another person I would rather lose it to then you as corny as that sounds.”

“Alright, Eddy.” Edd relaxed. He was not against the notion of sleeping with Eddy. He just hoped that it did not make their relationship awkward.

“Is my virginity that obvious?” Eddy joked.

“You can say that,” Edd joked back. Edd laid back on the waterbed submissively, relaxing against the mattress under Eddy’s gaze.

“I’m not exactly sure what I should do,” Eddy admitted, shamefully.

“As you said, don’t over-think it. Just relax and let your own instincts guide you.” Edd guided, reaching up to caress the side of Eddy’s face.

Eddy crotched down between Edd’s legs. His eyes gazed from Edd’s face to his naked torso. The only thing that was in the way from seeing every single bare inch of Edd was the pants Edd wore. Eddy kissed Edd passionately, exploring that warm, wet cavern with his tongue. The feel of Edd’s tongue caressing his own felt even better when he was sober. The only difference was that Eddy was not as confident as he was drunk. His mouth was drier than the Sahara desert. His heart beat rapidly like a drum. He sweated profusely at thought of what he was about to do.

He kissed alongside Edd’s jugular vein and could feel Edd’s heartbeat on the tip of his tongue. Edd was as nervous as he was. He did not know whether he would consider it a good thing or not, especially since he was a bit relieved that he was not only one that was nervous. He looked up at Edd’s face to examine his expression as he gently rubbed Edd’s chest. Edd looked calm and compliant. Edd’s eyes would close every now and then to enjoy the pleasure that Eddy gave him. When Edd opened his eyes, he would look at Eddy with admiration.

Eddy felt Edd’s fingers reach under his shirt to play with Eddy’s stomach. Eddy squirmed above the smaller teen, “Hey, Sockhead! Cut it out! It’s not my fault I’m fat. Sheesh!”

“Your stomach is such so cute when it is accidently exposed. I couldn’t contain myself, mon amour.” Edd giggled. 

“My stomach is not cute,” Eddy grumbled. Edd’s playful behavior did nothing to quench Eddy’s lustful intentions. Eddy wanted Edd so badly and he could tell that Edd wanted the same thing he did. He unbuttoned and unzipped Edd’s pants. A small tuff of pubic hair could be seen from the exposed area. He teased the area with his finger and heard Edd softly moan at his touch. He felt a bulge growing under his hand. 

Eddy quickly removed his clothes from his own body and removed Edd’s pants. Both of them were exposed to one another. Edd had drunk in the sight of seeing Eddy naked beside him. It was actually happening. Eddy gazed at Edd’s most private areas lustfully. Edd’s cock twitched with need and Edd’s ass was spread out for him similar to how the girls were spread out in the magazines he viewed. Seeing Edd like that was a real treat for the eyes.

Eddy began to stroke Edd’s length. It was like he had done to himself so many times under his covers to relief himself of his sexual needs. He could hear Edd’s needy pants as he pumped his dick. The more Eddy heard Edd’s breathy gasps, the more he felt himself becoming more aroused from hearing Edd’s pleasure. “Eddy,” Edd moaned out, “Insert your fingers inside of my anus, please!”

Eddy complied with Edd’s wish and spit into both of his hands. He figured he might as well prepare himself for the initial penetration while he prepared Edd. He made sure that three of his fingers on one hand were completely coated with saliva. He teased and entered Edd’s entrance with his saliva-coated index finger while he stroked himself with his free hand. Eddy was not sure how much preparation Edd needed since Edd was at the receiving end of Eddy’s brother’s sick pleasure earlier. However, he was willing to give Edd a chance to get used to having something inside before he decided to take things further. Unless Eddy’s inexperience clouded his judgment, Edd seemed pretty tight inside. 

Eddy inserted another finger inside of Edd and scissored his fingers inside of Edd. He wanted to make sure Edd was stretched out enough before he did anything else, but he was not prepared for Edd to let out a guttural groan. Eddy looked up to see if he had injured Edd. Edd’s cock was leaking pre-ejaculate and his cheeks were bright pink. The sight of his friend-now-lover was causing him to slowly lose control. His instincts were telling him to just take Edd already, but he wanted to wait for Edd. Edd noticed that he stopped moving his fingers and told him, “It’s alright, Eddy. You just found my prostate is all. Keep going, your fingers feel marvelous.”

“I found your what?” Eddy asked, “Eh, never mind. I’m about to enter ya, alright?” Edd quietly nodded, giving his consent to Eddy and that’s all Eddy needed to continue. Eddy removed his fingers and softly kissed Edd on the forehead. He aligned himself with Edd’s entrance and slowly entered inside. Eddy grunted once he was inside of Edd. The other teen was still kind of tight inside despite being prepared by Eddy and having sex earlier that day. Eddy gave Edd and himself a chance to adjust until he begun to move. Edd felt even better than Eddy had anticipated. The velvety smooth walls inside of Edd clutched his dick to the point where Eddy did not know how long he would last inside of Edd. All he knew that sex with Edd felt so heavenly that he wanted the feeling to last.

Edd’s moans and begging was music to Eddy’s ears. Eddy felt his peak approaching and wanted Edd to cum when he did. Eddy stroked Edd’s cock in time with his thrusts. Edd moaned in his ear and begged the larger teen to make him reach his climax. Eddy thrust wildly, looking for that spot that drove Edd wild. He knew he had found it when he spotted Edd biting his own lip and further impaling himself upon Eddy’s shaft. Eddy knew he was not going to make it any further. “Oh Edd, I’m about to cum, baby. I’m about to cum for you.”

“Continue, Eddy. I want to feel it inside of me.” Edd encouraged. Eddy kissed Edd for the final time during their lustful embrace until he felt every drop of him empty inside of Edd. His orgasm took a lot out of him and he slumped to the side of Edd, not wanting to crush his friend under his weight. He continued to jack off Edd until the other teen reached his peak as well. What shocked Eddy the most was Edd moaning Eddy’s name during his peak and telling Eddy that he loved him. Eddy was not even sure if he deserved Edd’s love.


	34. Help

Edd relaxed beside Eddy, running his fingers through his friend’s hair. Eddy rested on his shoulder with his eyes closed. Eddy looked completely vulnerable in that moment. Most of the times in his time that he had seen Eddy, Eddy either looked devious, determined, or enraged. There was very few moments where Eddy would show any weakness, even to Ed and Edd, his friends. He had found Eddy’s demeanor in that moment adorable.

That moment was short-lived. There was a knock on the side of the van. Panic immediately set in. Whoever was at the side of the van give them no indication of who they were. It could’ve been the police or worse; it could have been Matthew. Both the boys scrambled for their clothing and quickly dressed. There was another knock on the side of the van. 

“Wait here, Double D. I’ll see who is at the door.” Eddy replied, crawling into the front passenger’s seat.

“Eddy, stop! It could be your brother. We both are sitting ducks to whatever brutal act Matthew wants to inflict on us!” Edd pleaded, shuddering with dread. He pleaded with the teen in the front seat who was gazing out of the window. “Could you at least let me answer the door?”

“Calm your tits, Double D. It’s just Sasha at the door.” Eddy replied.

“Sasha?” Edd parroted. Even though they were next door to Sasha’s bar, the bar owner was the last person Edd expected at the door. Edd slowly got up and leaned over the seat peering out the same window that Eddy was. There he saw a familiar puff of spiky orange hair in the rearview mirror. “I wonder if Sasha is here over the van being parked on private property.”

“The heck should I know? Go answer the door!” Eddy said, straightening out the wrinkles in his shirt.

Edd pulled back the car door handle and was greeted to the sight of Sasha’s midsection. “Greetings Sasha, I did not expect to see you here.”

Sasha leaned forward to talk to the boys, “What’s going on? This van’s been parked here for about a half an hour. Did your van break down or something?”

“We ran out of gas.” Eddy answered.

“I’ve got a gas can in the shed behind the bar that has some gas in it. There’s not much, just enough to probably get you an eighth of a tank. It should be enough to get you kids home. It’s way past your curfew and you kids should not be out at this time. There are quite a few creepy weirdoes around when the sun sets.” Sasha gently scolded.

“Yes, mom,” Eddy replied sarcastically. His eyebrow twitched at the notion that he was being patronized like a wandering child. 

“Anyway, follow me. The keys are in my apartment. It’s been a slow night, so I closed the bar early. The only ones that are there are me and Kevin. Hiroshi went to his parents’ house for the night.” Sasha then added, “Kevin also brought over a nice blonde girl that he has been recently going with, but she left a while ago. I believe her name is Nazz.”

Eddy snickered and Edd quickly elbowed his friend. Edd smiled warmly, “that sounds quite lovely. I’m happy for them.”

“You and I both, Kevin was hung up on her for years.” Sasha related. Sasha strolled down the parking lot with Edd and Eddy following closely behind him. Edd and Eddy had begun to worry. The bruise on Eddy’s face and the hickeys along Edd’s neck were visible. If Sasha had noticed them, he gave them no indication that he did. 

They soon got their answer when Sasha stumbled on one of the parking lot bumpers. Sasha loudly cursed, gently rubbing his skinned jean. Sasha slowly got up, blindly brushing off his jeans to the best of his ability. “Sasha! Are you alright?” Edd asked.

“Yeah, I just didn’t see the bumper is all,” Sasha replied sheepishly.

“How did you not see the bumper!? It was right in front of you! You were looking straight at it!” Eddy asked.

“Sorry, boys. I can’t see a thing at the moment. Everything is all blurry. Even you two look like two blurry blobs.” Sasha apologized, “I ran out of my prescription contacts yesterday and today I have trouble seeing.”

“How did you know it was us inside of the van if you have serious vision problems?” Edd asked.

Sasha continued his pace, “I heard your voices outside of the van. Are you two kids safe to go home, Pipsqueak?”

Edd and Eddy looked to each other to silently decide whether or not to tell Sasha. “We’re fine, Sasha. Whatever gave you that idea?” Eddy answered, nervously. Edd pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“Alright,” Sasha shrugged, continuing down the parking lot.

Edd and Eddy had to guide Sasha to the door once they reached the bar. Sasha groped around for the door knob and opened the door. Sasha slipped inside while Edd and Eddy waited for him outside near the parking lot. They eavesdropped on the conversation Sasha had with Kevin. From the sound of it, Sasha was even stumbling around when he was inside of the house. To say that Sasha had extremely poor eyesight was an understatement.

“Dude, you can always wear your old glasses from high school until your new contacts come in,” Kevin stated.

“And risk looking like a dork again, yeah right!” Sasha snorted, “You’ve got Hiroshi’s futon tonight since he went to visit his parents.”

“Hiroshi doesn’t sleep on that futon and we both know it.” Kevin retorted, “I’m not a kid anymore, dude. I know Hiroshi and you share the same bed.”

“Hiroshi and I are just friends and business partners,” Sasha said.

Kevin chuckled, “friends with benefits? Come on, you can admit to me that you’ve been screwing the guy.”

“I am not discussing my sex life with my cousin, it’s just weird!” Sasha huffed, “Besides, Hiroshi still has a two year student visa. When it expires, I might see him again.”

“Dude,” Kevin replied, shocked.

“Besides, dating, even if it is forced pseudo-dating, leads to a lot of trouble. Forced pseudo-dating is how I ended up with the scar on my back.” Sasha admitted.

“Wait, that psycho is one that sliced you up and left you to be found by Aunt Barbie and Uncle Tom? I’ll kick his ass right now. I still owe him for running over Rolf’s goat and attempting to run over Nazz!” Despite not being able to see Kevin getting psyched up from the news, Edd could hear Kevin hitting his own hand with his fist. This was not good.  
“You will do no such thing!” Sasha shouted.

“But! C’mon cuz! ” Kevin begged, “That motherfucker would deserve it!”

“No buts, Kevin!” Sasha yelled, “By the sound of it, Matthew is already becoming reckless and I don’t want you in the crossfire. Well, he is becoming more reckless than usual. Knowing him, he won’t be satisfied until he drags everyone down with him. Look, this month is the anniversary of something bad that happened fourteen years ago and I don’t want to see you hurt, understand?”

“Ugh, fine!” Kevin groaned.

“Good. I’ll be able to get a bit of sleep tonight.” Sasha replied, “Have you seen the keys to the shed out back? I need it along with one of my business cards. A couple of people ran out of gas and they need to get home before the cops catch them out this late.”

“I’ll go get them for you.” Kevin replied.

“Thanks.” Sasha said. He waited a minute or two for his cousin to get back with the items. He blindly reached for the items until Kevin put them straight in his hand, “Thanks again. I’ll be back in a minute or two. Go put in movie or something.”

“Will do,” Kevin replied, sorting through Sasha’s video tapes.

Sasha headed outside reaching in front of him blindly trying to give them the card. “Here is my card in case you two need anything at all. Are you sure you’ll be safe enough to drive home, Pipsqueak?”

“Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen?” Eddy asked nervously. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Eddy, you should have told Sasha the truth,” Edd complained as Eddy was driving down the road.

“Why? I’ve got a good game plan all up here,” Eddy boasted, pointing to his head with his free hand and quickly put his hand back on the wheel. “Besides, Sasha’s temporarily blind. He wouldn’t have been much help to us anyway, ya know? He couldn’t even walk to the damn shed and get out the gas can without our help.”

“That’s true, but we’re heading back into the belly of the beast, metaphorically speaking. I sure hope you formulated an adequate plan on how we enter back into our home without getting a free trip to the intensive care unit at the hospital! If what Sasha said is true, Matthew is a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any given moment!”

“Relax, Sockhead! We’re going to do more than just go home; we’re going to confront the bastard!” Eddy declared.

“Are you mad?” Edd shrieked, “Normally I would agree with standing up for one self. However, your brother is not going to listen to reason. There’s no rationality to his current actions. At least, it would not be how I would define rational. If your brother is going off the deep end as Sasha suggested, we’re walking into a death trap.”

“So what are we supposed to do? Continue to let him molest you and let him beat the shit out of me? I’m sorry Double D, but it’s time for us both to grow up and confront him.” Eddy yelled back.

“Eddy, is there any truth to his words? Did Matthew really get this bad during the month of June?” Edd asked softly.

“I honestly have no idea, Double D. All I remember is that my brother got the cops called on him several times after school ended for the summer and that he got sent somewhere for several weeks. It became a yearly thing since I can remember. Mom and Dad told me that he got sent to summer camp and I believed them. Now, I’m not so sure that he actually did go to summer camp like they claimed.” Eddy admitted grimly.

Chances were that Matthew either ended up in a correctional faculty or even a psych ward. One was as likely as the other. Psychological symptoms were a tricky thing. They could be easily overlooked as sudden reactions or just strange behavior. While Matthew was an all-around unpleasant person who fucked whoever he wanted and drank like a fish, there were a couple of things that happened that could’ve been psychological symptoms. 

Obviously, perversion, violence, and alcoholism were traits that happened year-round for the guy, so Edd checked off anything involving the three. However, the recklessness of Matthew’s behavior was apparently one of the tall-tell signs that Matthew was losing his grip on his sanity if Sasha was right. Matthew was usually more calculating and less reckless. The incident that happened earlier in the night was extremely reckless, even by Matthew’s standards and was ambiguously motivated. Jealously over Eddy could’ve been a part of that, but it could’ve been a psychological sign of something more troubling as well. 

As Sasha said, Matthew’s reckless driving could’ve been a sign or could’ve been a result of alcoholism as Edd originally thought. What could not be explained by anything else were nights in which Matthew had nightmares within the last couple of days. The incident with Matthew strangling him the morning after Edd lost his virginity before he realized who it was could’ve been one as well. There were so many questions and not enough answers.

Eddy and Edd were greeted to the sight of the door being wide open and Matthew’s vehicle being nowhere in sight. “Where the fuck did he go?” Eddy asked.

Edd only shrugged as a response while Eddy parked in the driveway. Edd quickly got out of the car to inspect the house for any signs of Matthew or any signs that the house got robbed. So far, everything seemed in place. The only thing that was missing was the house phone. Edd inspected the area and seen that the telephone wire had been cut. Edd quickly informed the news to Eddy who had just stepped inside of the house.

“So where the hell is the damn phone?” Eddy asked, glancing around.

“Call it intuition, but we should check the garbage,” Edd replied.

Eddy quickly entered the kitchen and lifted up the garbage lid. “There’s nothing in there. Just garbage!”

“Hmm, you’re going to need to dig into the garbage then.” Edd replied handing Eddy a pair of gloves, “put these on. There are a lot of bacteria-containing microbes in garbage cans.”

“You’re kidding right?” Eddy grimaced. When he seen Edd’s scowl, he relented and put on the gloves. “Alright! Alright! You owe me Sockhead!”

Edd nodded, “If I’m wrong about this, I’ll owe you a favor.”

“-And you better pay up too,” Eddy retorted sticking his hand into the garbage, looking through the pile of garbage in the garbage can. When Edd started to give up hope that they would ever find anything, Eddy pulled out the telephone from the trashcan. Edd estimated that the telephone was sitting under over a week’s worth of garbage. It was in the garbage can for over a week and they didn’t even notice it! Edd quickly got a Ziploc bag and opened it up for Eddy. Eddy slid the phone inside the bag and Edd quickly zipped up the bag and set it on one of the kitchen chairs. 

“Hey, you little brats! Y’all need to learn how to keep your damn door shut. Where the fuck is Mattie’s stupid ass?” A familiar voice came from the doorway. When Edd turned around, he seen a tattooed hand with a wedding band grasped the kitchen door.

A/N: After this story is completed, what would you guys prepare to see: a sequel which takes place four years after this story or a prequel centered on Matthew as the main character and his descent into the person he is.


	35. Seth Explains

“Seth, haven’t you ever heard of knocking on the damn door?” Eddy asked.

“Tch, what for? You two ankle-biters were already home and the door was wide open. Where’s Mattie?” Seth asked again, looking around.

“He’s not here!” Eddy replied, irritably, “do you have any idea where my brother might be?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I did,” Seth retorted, helping himself to some chips.

“Excuse me for asking, but what are you doing here? It is not like you to show up at our house unannounced,” Edd asked.

“I’m here to take Mattie to Lucas’ house for several weeks. Looks like I’m also stuck watching you two until Mattie’s folks get back or until Mattie calms the fuck down, whichever comes first,” Seth stated, yawning. 

“Is it over my brother freaking out over the anniversary of whatever the fuck happened to him?” Eddy questioned. “I’m tired of your clique keeping important secrets from me and not even bothering to tell me what the fuck happened.”

“How did you find out about that?” Seth asked, alarmed.

Eddy sighed, “Does it matter? The only thing that matters is why you are planning on taking my brother to Lucas’ house for several weeks. Why would that help?”

“Look I’ll explain everything later. Just let me use your phone to call Lucas,” Seth responded.

“The telephone is currently out-of-order,” Edd replied, holding up the plastic Ziploc bag the phone was in.

“What happened to the phone?” Seth squawked, noticing that the phone was covered in stains and the phone line had been cut.

“My brother,” Eddy mumbled, “you know of anyone that could help us?”

“Yeah, Lucas can,” Seth replied, “he went to a party an hour or two ago, so I can just drag his bitch ass out of the party and have him help us look for Mattie. We can use my car.”

“Let’s try to catch him before he leaves the party or gets wasted,” Eddy said, heading towards the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Pardon me, Seth, but what do you know about Matthew’s current psychological state?” Edd asked from one of the backseats.

Out of all of the cars that Seth could’ve owned, it was surprising for both Edd and Eddy to learn that Seth drove a blue minivan. Usually a guy like Seth would’ve been associated with a motorcycle, a car like the type Matthew owns, or even some kind of custom hearse. They probably would not have been able to tell that it was Seth’s minivan if it didn’t contain the permanent smell of cigarette smoke and some of Seth’s personal belongings. A pair of Mardi Gras beads and a dragon novelty air freshener hung from a rearview mirror. The back seats contained several binders of what were apparently different tattoo designs. Edd had to admit, Seth was an impressive artist.

“Where to start? That shit didn’t start up until after we were ten years old.” Seth replied, taking a drag from the lit cigarette in his hand.

“I get that, so what the fuck happened that day?” Eddy asked, impatiently.

“Why the fuck do you want to know, Pipsqueak?” Seth asked, taking another puff of his cigarette.

“It’s my brother, goddamn it!” Eddy yelled, giving Seth’s seat a swift kick, “so tell me what the fuck happened already!”

“Eddy, control yourself!” Edd scowled, “there are better ways to receive information about the incident without resorting to violence.”

“Yeah, well, none of that has worked!” Eddy shot back, “Tell me what fucking happened! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me, goddamn it!” Eddy demanded, kicking the seat like a child throwing a tantrum. Seth looked like he was trying to ignore Eddy, but was growing angrier by the second. Eddy continued kicking the seat, “I swear to God, Seth, if you don’t tell me what happened right this minute; I’m going to chop off your dick and feed it to you!”

“Shut the fuck up!” Seth snapped, quickly pulling up to the side of the road and parking the vehicle. Other cars drove past them, their lights shining brightly in the night. Seth’s face was twisted into an irritated scowl and would not turn to face either one of the teens. Edd feared that whatever emotion Eddy unleashed in Seth. If what Sasha told them was true, Seth was also traumatized by whatever had happened that day.

The car was deathly quiet. Seth continued to stare out of the window while letting the ash from his cigarette fall into his lap. Neither Edd nor Eddy wanted to provoke the man anymore than Eddy already had. Several minutes passed by and the car was as silent as a mouse. Perhaps it was not the best idea to get into the car with the guy.

After several more agonizing minutes, Seth’s expression started to soften and he sighed heavily, putting out his cigarette in the ashtray. “Out of all of the stupid stunts Matthew pulled, that day was the worst. Mattie had the bright idea that we would use this geeky kid that we knew as bait while we stole from this one house that the neighborhood children feared. Our parents forbid us from going to that place for our own safety. My mom told me that a bad man lived in that house. None of the adults in the neighborhood would specifically tell us of why we children had to stay away from the house, or more importantly who the man was.”

“Who was he?” Edd’s voice cracked.

“He was a sex offender. He was a goddamn sex offender. None of us, not even Matthew, knew what that sick fuck was capable of. At the time, we hardly knew what sex was. The man was in his early thirties and had been released from prison two years before the incident. The man was charged for molesting a child that was the same damn age we were. Lucas, Matthew, and I looked into that guy’s criminal background history once we became older.”

Edd waited with bated breath for the man to continue. He already had a pretty good idea of what had happened at the house, but he wanted to hear it from Seth. Seth continued, “That fucker fondled each one of us to see if we would fight back against him. Matthew did and the sick fuck molested him. That’s all you need to know about the guy.”

“So what happened after that,” Eddy rubbed the back of his own neck, nervously.

“Well, Mattie started freaking out immediately after the rape. He was sent to a mental hospital on a yearly basis until he was kicked out. His folks and the psych doctors tried to figure out what was wrong with him, but Mattie kept his silence on the issue. Mattie told me that the psych doctors listed that he had Conduct Disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, and added that Mattie acted sexually inappropriate for his age. I guess some time later, they added that Matthew was hypersexual.”

Edd could tell that the psych doctors were only basing their diagnosis on what they observed, rather than what might have been going on in Matthew’s head. Matthew might have been also suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but even that would not completely explain the man’s psyche. The man was still a complete enigma to him – and a bad one at that.

“After Mattie was kicked out, it was up to Lucas and I to make sure that Mattie was contained during that time of the year.” Seth continued, fidgeting with his lip piercing, “So each year, we locked Mattie in one of Lucas’ panic rooms until he came to his senses.”

“Excuse me for saying this, Seth, but what you and Lucas did was illegal. Despite your good intentions, the law still considers it false imprisonment. You and Lucas could face legal repercussions if you two are caught,” Edd informed.

“What we did was a hell of a lot better than what would’ve happened to him if he were arrested or put in a nuthouse.” Seth reasoned, “Being put into one of Lucas’ panic rooms is like checking into a fancy hotel room, except he can’t leave until he chills out. He got five meals a day; Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks. We would bring him his porno mags to look through. He also has a nice Jacuzzi tub he can soak his crazy ass in. Do you know how many broken bones and bruises we got when either of us tried to bring his ass food? More than I can fucking count! Sometimes he was too confused or whatever and attacked us, not realizing that it was us that he was attacking. Sometimes he knew that it was us coming in and still attacked us anyway just to hurt us.”

“You two are just as insane as my fucking brother is,” Eddy responded.

Seth frowned, “I’m not looking for your fucking approval, Pipsqueak. Matthew hated the nuthouse, how do you think he would’ve liked prison? The point of it was to make Matthew as comfortable as possible while he was out of his mind, even at the cost of my own fucking limbs. If you don’t like it, you can get out of the car and walk home.” 

“Ugh, fine. I don’t care. All I care about is finding my brother,” Eddy groaned, “let me guess, you’re planning on capturing my brother and locking him away at Lucas’ house?”

“Now you’re getting it.” Seth put the minivan into drive and turned back onto the road, “you’re not as dense as I thought you were.”

“Go blow yourself, asshole!” Eddy spat.

“So what is our role in your plan?” Edd asked.

Seth yawned from exhaustion, “I’m glad you asked that. You two are going to lure Matthew to me and Lucas and let us handle the rest. Don’t think you two won’t get hurt by Matthew. He’ll hurt you during a fit just like Lucas and I were.”

The car fell silent once again. They had past a sign indicating that they were now in Lemon Brook. There had been a joke that Lemon Brook had more Lemon trees than they had people and the Lemon tree farms were everywhere with the occasional silo. After a couple of minutes of passing by the farms, they reached the town center where small shops, Lemon Brook High School, the police station, and various other buildings were located.

“Hey Seth,” Eddy’s voice broke the silence, “why did my brother pick you to be his lackey?”

“Excuse me?” Seth asked in confusion.

“My brother told me once when I was one or two years old to pick out lackeys who both had a talent and a weakness to exploit. He told me that outcasts were more likely to go along with the scams than social butterflies. It seemed like you were the common sense guy and the work mule behind all of my brother’s scams. So what was it that drawn my brother to you?” Eddy asked.

Edd was taken aback by Eddy’s question. Eddy was instructed at an early age to find people with talents to exploit? Edd immediately thought of Ed and him and how they fit into the trio’s dynamic. Edd was the brains and Ed was the brawn. Ed was just Ed and rarely stood up to Eddy. Edd challenged Eddy plenty of times, but stuck by Eddy due to loneliness. Edd knew of the dynamic well. Edd wondered what drew Eddy to him and Ed, their talents or their weaknesses. Of course, as the years went by, Ed and Edd became less of Eddy’s lackeys and more of his friends. Edd didn’t know why it shocked him so much that Matthew instructed Eddy to literately take advantage of what he considered the weakest links, but it did.

Seth ignored the question and driven into an upper middle class suburb where the houses were near identical clones to one another. The only differences between some of the houses were the lawn ornaments in the yards, the gardens at some of the houses, and the cars that were parked in the driveways. “We’re almost there,” Seth announced.


	36. Finding Matthew

The house the party was located at was one of the many cookie-cutter houses in the suburbs. Edd could not tell the house apart from the other houses besides the number by the door, the noise coming from the house, and minor other details. The inside of the house was even louder than the noise outside. The neighbors either was not home to hear the noise or just did not care about it. 

The inside of the house was as boisterous as the outside was. The music and partiers was so loud that Edd could barely hear himself think. Walking into the house was similar to walking into a modern day ancient Roman party. Sex, drugs, alcohol, and rowdy behavior were at every corner of the house. Pornography played on the big screen TV while a few people on the couches watched with disinterest as they took shots from the shot glasses on the coffee table. There was a large glass bowl in the middle of table with a variety of condoms and packets of Spanish fly, a colorful candy-looking liquid in small packets. Edd remembered reading up on the substance and finding out that Spanish fly is an aphrodisiac that causes more harm than it was worth. He supposed if there was any environment that an individual like Matthew would flourish; it would be an environment like this.

There were so many people at the house that Edd had already lost Seth and Eddy. The party was packed with people. He tried calling out to Seth or Eddy, but he received no answer from either one of them. Where were they? Edd accidently bumped into two scantily-clad women. While the women at the party were dressed differently from one another with some women dressed in modest clothing such as a short sleeved turtleneck and baggy jeans and others were comfortable with their bodies and exposed more skin, the two girls he had bumped into were really comfortable with their bodies. 

The two women wore almost the exact same outfit as one another; pasties on their nipples, thongs, fishnet stockings, and platform boots. The only difference was the pink-haired woman wore red heart-shaped pasties, a red thong, and two red heart stickers on her cheeks and the strawberry blond wore white daisy pasties with a yellow thong. Edd blushed as the two walked past him, not even noticing him. Edd blushed furiously at their near-nudity. Edd turned his head to avoid staring at them like a pervert. 

He turned in another direction and continued his search. The next thing Edd saw was a group of guys sitting at the kitchen trying out a variety of illegal drugs. One of the guys was only wearing his underwear for some strange reason. Another one was ingesting a piece of paper with a tie-dye skull on it. The books Edd read on illegal drugs came in handy once again, since he automatically knew that the paper the guy ingested was blotter paper infused with LSD. 

Suddenly Edd heard a voice that was the sweet sound of reason within the midst of all of the debauchery. “God, everyone here is acting like fucking idiots.” A feminine voice proclaimed amongst the crowd.

“I-I agree, Becky.” A mousy voice barely spoke above a whisper. Edd could barely hear what the girl said next.

“Leave it to Jillian to take us to a hellhole like this.” The girl named Becky snorted and then mocked in a falsetto voice, “Oh Beck, you need to take me to this awesome party tonight where I can shake my ass! Please Beck! God, she can be a pain in the butt sometimes.”

Edd followed the voice to two women who looked to be about 20 years old. One was a tall blond with a pixy cut. The other was a short, shy-looking, heavyset girl with long brunette hair. Both of them were modestly dressed. Edd approached them, hoping that they would have any clue where Lucas, Seth, or Eddy might be. “Salutations ladies! My name is Eddward. I was wondering if I could trouble you two for a minute.”

“If this is about drugs or your dick, I could give a fuck less,” Becky’s face hardened with irritation.

Eddward was taken aback by the girl’s attitude, but was not deterred from seeking her help finding either one of the three, “What? Heaven’s no! I’m looking for someone.”

“Oh? Neither Laura nor I are going to be of much help to you,” Becky’s face softened at realizing that Edd was not a junkie or a horn dog looking for action, “We only know two people in the entire party, our friend who is partying her ass off and the party host. The party owner should be able to help you. He’s in the basement in the middle of a poker game.” Becky pointed towards a white door, “It’s through that door. Good luck finding your friend.”

“Thank you for your help,” Edd nodded and headed towards the door. If what the blonde said is true, the party host should be in the basement.

*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“We lost Double D!” Eddy complained at Seth.

“We’ll find him, Lucas, and Matthew tonight. Just settle your ass down,” Seth groaned. Eddy did not know which had more people, the outside where they were or the inside of the house. Eddy found a place to sit near the pool and looked amongst the people. Seth was about to continue until he saw Eddy sitting by the inground pool.

“What are you sitting around for?” Seth asked, gruffly.

“I’m exhausted. Could we take a take a break for a few minutes?” Eddy whined, “I’m sure we find Lucas and Double D here as we could by wandering around the party like chickens with their heads cut off.”

Seth groaned irritably and sat down on the cold concrete. “I swear I’m going to kick your ass, you know that, right?”

Eddy snorted at Seth’s empty threat. He wanted to find Lucas, Double D, and his brother as much as Seth did, but he wanted to conserve his energy. Chances are if they find Matthew, he would not want to be locked up at Lucas’ house so easily. He might attack them. It’s better to look amongst the crowd than to blindly search the house and end up lost anyway. Just how many people were at that fucking house party?

After about fifteen minutes of resting, Eddy spotted a familiar face by the pool. Lucas was wearing a silk Hawaiian shirt, a pair of baggy-legged shorts, a seashell necklace, and a pair of sandals. Even in a Hawaiian shirt, Lucas still looked like the average mild-mannered guy that had the same grooming habits as a male model. That perhaps disturbed Eddy the most, it seemed like Lucas used his appearance as a mask to hide whatever creepiness lurks behind those looks.

Lucas quickly notices Seth and Eddy and approaches them, “It’s a great night for a party. There are plenty of drugs to do while the night is young. In fact, Pipsqueak, I need you to try this out for me.” Lucas picked up a cup filled with a red liquid that looked like regular Cool-aid and handed it to Eddy.

“What is it?” Eddy asked suspiciously.

“It’s just Kool-aid,” Lucas replied.

“Damn it Lucas! We need to find Matthew immediately. If we don’t, he’s going to do something extremely stupid! So get your shit and c’mon! Did you forget that it’s almost the anniversary of you know what?” Seth demanded, standing up.

Lucas’ lips curled into a small, condensing smile. “Chill, Seth! You don’t need to worry about Mattie.”

“Why?” Seth asked.

“Because he’s already here at the party somewhere,” Lucas announced.

“Why didn’t you already lock him up where he was safe?” Seth nagged. “We need to get him to a safe spot before he hurts himself or someone else. Did you forget what he did to your damn collarbone one year?”

“Because he was acting normally when I picked him up,” Lucas responded.

“He cut a fucking phone line at his house! That’s why neither of us has been able to call him. That’s not normal, even for him!” Seth exclaimed.

“Alright, alright. We’ll find him somewhere at this party,” Lucas caved, “so what’s the plan?”

Eddy tuned out the two men. It seemed that whenever Seth was going over a plan, it was always extremely time-consuming. Eddy walked off with the drink. Eddy gazed at the drink and took a couple of large gulps of the drink to satisfy his thirst. The drink left an awful taste in his mouth. It tasted like some kind of chemical. It tasted like something he would find in Edd’s chemistry set. Eddy threw the drink down and pushed past a bunch of people. He had to find Edd and Matthew. The other teen and man had to be somewhere in that house. 

When Eddy finally made it inside of the house, he started to feel strange. The lights in the house were shining more brightly than he had ever seen lights shine before. The colors of the clothes the people in the house were such vivid colors, he couldn’t help but stare. Even the clothes he was wearing was suddenly brighter.

He felt like he was one with the techno music being played at the party. He wanted to dance to the music. He also had a sudden urge to feel someone against him. He started to sway to the music and sing along to it, “she doesn’t get enough hoes. She died from overdose. Overdose. Overdose. Overdose,” He chanted the word like a mantra, “Overdose. Overdose. Overdose. Overdose. She died from overdose!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Edd headed down into the basement. The whole basement smelled like marijuana smoke, cigarettes, and alcohol. The basement was as cold as an ice cube, even on a summer night. Edd walked down the metal steps and was faced with cement walls, a washer and dryer, and a wooden door. He opened the door prepared to face whatever awaited him on the other side.

The pungent smell of marijuana, alcohol, and cigarette smoke was even stronger inside of the room. The room was a game room of some sort with a hockey table and a large octagonal card table. The room also contained a couch and a large screen TV. Edd interested piqued when he saw five people playing a poker game. There was an African-American man playing poker with a menthol cigarette between two of his fingers. There was a bald white man having a bottle of Scotch. There was also another Caucasian man in a college hoodie. There was a blonde female with pigtails who was wearing blue star pasties that was playing poker as well. Edd’s breath hitched when he seen who was at the end of the table.

Even when the man was not trying to be sexy, he was. The man radiated sex appeal like an animal in heat. The man was like a black widow sitting, waiting for her next prey to eat. Edd’s heart was caught in his chest. He would not let himself feel anything more than pity for the man in front of him. He came here with a purpose and his purpose was done; he found Matthew and was prepared to lure him to Seth somehow.

“Well boys – and lady. Read them and weep; A royal flush!” Matthew announced proudly, revealing his hand. Matthew had the most money from everyone in the entire table and by the looks of it, Matthew just won the pot. A couple of the people at the card table threw their cards down in disbelief. Matthew turned to the female on his left and jiggled her mostly bare boob with his left hand. “Looks like you lost there, sweetheart. Maybe next time.”

“Yeah, maybe,” She giggled and started to head out the door along with everyone else, “Are you coming, big guy? The guys are going skinny dipping and I’m going to get wasted.”

“I’ll think about it. You almost bit my dick off when I got with you,” Matthew replied with bittersweet pleasantness that betrayed how he really felt about the idea. The woman pouted and walked out of the room, leaving Matthew alone to collect his winnings and Edd alone with Matthew. Matthew took a glance at Edd, finally realizing the teen was in the room with him and grinned, “I’m glad that you found me, Princess. I suppose you couldn’t live without my cock for long.”


	37. Seducing Matthew

Edd kept his composure. He knew how he could get the man’s attention. He just hoped that Matthew did not catch onto what he was doing. He advanced towards Matthew seductively. Edd had read quite a few books on courtship and had enough sexual experience to pull it off – or at least he hoped so. The outfit Matthew wore to the party was stylish and appealing. Matthew wore a dark red silk shirt that was slightly open to expose his chest hair and the gold chain around his neck. A pair of black leather pants hugged the man’s hips and bulge sensually. Gold rings adorned the man’s sausage fingers. Matthew also wore the same brown flat cap that Edd had always known the man to wear. What was the importance of that cap anyway?

Edd got close enough to feel Matthew’s breath on his cheek. His heart was thudding so loudly that he felt like he was going to have a heart attack. He really did not have much of a choice, but to play with fire. He had to convince Matthew to follow him and meet back up with Eddy and Seth and sex was Matthew’s vice of choice.

He ran his fingers through the soft curls of Matthew’s chest and leaned against him, pushing his own body up against Matthew’s. The smell of Matthew’s cologne and the feel of Matthew’s against his own sent flashbacks of all of the times Edd was entangled in the lustful embrace of the man. Edd tried to push those memories back to focus on the task at hand, but the improper task he was about to do did not make concentration easy. 

If Matthew was shocked by Edd’s sudden behavior, he didn’t show it. The man remained uncharacteristically stoic and only quirked an eyebrow. Edd decided to see how much he can convince the man to follow him. “I’m sure you are quite aware of how much lustful attraction we feel for each other. I’ve been quite sexually frustrated since I got pulled away from your arms earlier.” Edd brushed his lips against Matthew’s own to put the finishing touch on the act he was performing.

Matthew grinned wickedly and kissed him back, “I knew you wanted my sorry ass.”

“Why don’t you take your winnings and show me a good time. It would be just the two of us. We’ll go wherever you want to go and partake in whatever activities you want to do.”

“What makes you think you deserve it?” Matthew teased.

Edd faked a pout and cupped the bulge in Matthew’s leather pants. Edd pulled away and strutted towards the sofa with the grace of a cat. Edd swayed his hips and bent over a sofa with his ass in the air. He felt the man’s eyes upon him. Edd licked his lips and gave his own backside tantalizing caresses, “Oh Matthew, you know that I’ll follow your instruction like a good little pupil. You have to admit, the sex we’ve had together was a tad vanilla. I’m sure you can subdue me and instruct me in the next lesson of bedroom etiquette. Teach me your ways, Matthew.”

Edd heard the man walk towards him and was picked up from the couch. The man held him tightly, grunting in his ear. Edd felt the man’s arousal poking the curve of his buttocks. The man’s rough hands were upon his sensitive body. One was holding Edd close to him tightly. The other hand was rubbing teasing circles upon Edd’s crotch, causing Edd’s cock to stir as a response. “I’ll teach you alright, Princess. Just remember who the fuck you belong to.”

“I belong only to you.” Edd moaned, “Make me your whore. Penetrate me!” Edd rubbed himself against Matthew. Edd was not too sure when to stop the charade. Matthew was mentally ill and was a ticking time bomb. Edd was not sure when Matthew might snap and become violent like Sasha and Seth claimed, but the man needed help.

Matthew quickly removed his hand from Edd’s crotch to grab the remote from the nearest end table and turn on the TV. Matthew quickly set the remote back down. Edd was puzzled on why Matthew would want the TV on at all. Suddenly he was quickly turned around. He looked into those dark pools the man considered eyes in confusion and was pushed harshly against the wall. Matthew pressed himself against Edd, almost knocking the wind out of Edd, and tilted Edd’s chin up, “You want me to wine and dine you and then give you a good fucking?”

“More than anything,” Edd tried to regain his composure despite the rough treatment that he had received. 

“Prove it, Princess,” Matthew nuzzled the space near Edd’s Adam’s apple, “I want you to prove to me that you are willing to do anything I ask of you. Enough of that teasing shit. The only thing that does is make me want to wreck you before we get out of this damn house. I want you to follow my lead without throwing a hissy fit. Think you can do that?”

“Of course, what did you have in mind?” Edd asked a bit terrified of what Matthew had planned.

“I want you to get on your knees,” Matthew instructed, breathing heavily as he rubbed circles into Edd’s hips, “get on your knees and open that pretty little cock sucking mouth of yours.”

Edd was not surprised by the man’s request, “shouldn’t we wait to go back to the house before we do anything like that? I mean someone could stroll in and catch us.”

“We’ll make this quick then, sweetheart,” Matthew purred. Matthew started to unbuckle his leather jeans and unzipped the fly. It was when Matthew released himself from his pants that the TV caught his attention. Edd looked at the television as well. The news was on at the moment. Peach Creek and Lemon Brook local news usually consisted of very mundane things such as the test scores at the schools and when the crops were ripe for harvest. The Peach Creek and Lemon Brook local news was about as informative as walking down the street and asking individuals what current issues are. Such was small town life. Half of the usual segments included news from the city. However, this news segment was local. 

The focus was on an interview with a man named Theodore Luster who was doing an interview on troubled youth at Peach Creek schools as a concerned citizen as indicated by the caption. Despite the man’s graying hair, Edd could tell that the man once had blond hair. The man’s steel grey eyes focused on the camera. Edd briefly looked at Matthew. Matthew face went from shock to rage when the man started to speak. 

“The trouble with certain kids is that they have a lot of fire inside of them and they need a way to channel that. They’re not bad kids, but they need guidance from a much older person, preferably from members of our own community. Teachers are overworked and underpaid and parents are too lackluster to keep their kids on a tight leash.” Theodore spoke to the camera.

“Stay on your knees and keep your mouth open,” Matthew commanded. The tone of Matthew’s voice became scary and Edd did not know what triggered it. Was it something the man said? Was it the man himself? More importantly, when did Edd start to care about the man in front of him? He certainly did not care about the man when the man first moved in.

Fearful of what Matthew might do if he backed down from performing fellatio on him, Edd closed his eyes and opened his mouth, hoping that it would end quickly. He just wanted Matthew to follow him to Seth and get Matthew to a safer place until Matthew’s mental health improved. He could only hope that Matthew wouldn’t hurt him.

He listened as Matthew stroked himself. Edd remained perfectly still, waiting for the man to continue. It felt like an hour before Matthew finally entered into his mouth. The news was still on, so it had to only have been about five minutes. Edd started to help Matthew by stroking whatever Edd couldn’t fit into his mouth. His hand was quickly slapped away.

The man forced his weight against Edd’s head, pushing Edd’s head and back against the wall roughly. Matthew growled animalistic ally as he began his rough pace inside of Edd’s mouth. Edd struggled to breath. Edd started to breathe through his nose to regain some of his oxygen. Edd coughed when Matthew tried to force the tip of his dick past his throat.

The man seemed to not care about Edd’s pleasure or about Edd at all. Not that was anything new, but this time was different. It felt like Matthew was less in control of himself than he normally was. Not only that, but it seemed like Edd was be punished for Matthew’s own rage, whatever started it. Edd coughed around the appendage again before being granted only a few moments to catch his breath before Matthew slipped himself back in. The man continued face-fucking him against the wall, offering little mercy to the teen sucking his cock.

He heard Matthew sigh with relief once he had reached his climax. Then Edd felt the bitter taste of the man’s cum enter into his mouth. He swallowed the man’s seed to avoid his wrath. Edd noted that Matthew was unusually silent during the whole thing, which was uncharacteristic from the 24 year old who loved to taunt, tease, and command Edd during sexual activity. The man’s body went limp and Matthew removed himself from Edd’s mouth. 

A slap to the face caught Edd off guard. His cheek stung from the impact. Edd opened his eyes to stare at the 24 year old, dumbfounded by the action. Matthew kicked him in the stomach as a response. Edd’s legs were too shaky to hold his body up any longer. He dropped to the ground and curled up into fetal position. 

“Do you think I’m fucking stupid?! Huh? You little fucking whore?!” Matthew screamed, pressing his foot into Edd’s jugular vein. Edd could barely breathe. He knew if Matthew put any more pressure on his neck, Edd would need to seek medical attention immediately afterward. Then it dawned on Edd, Matthew was much more skilled at fighting than the common thug. The times Matthew punched Eddy and Lucas and the time Matthew fought Edd in the living room were too skilled to come from karate lessons. No, Matthew fought like someone who had received police training or army training and Edd seriously doubted that Matthew was in either. Someone taught this madman how to fight accurately. 

Edd stayed down to avoid another incident like what happened in the living room, “Matthew, I can’t breathe!”

“You think I would be so blind to figure out that you were up to something?” Matthew continued, seething, “Fuck you!” Edd refused to answer the man, but Matthew continued, “you got it set up to where I’m going to be locked away again like a fucking caged animal, didn’t you? I have to admit, Princess, your acting wasn’t half-bad, but I knew something was up.”

“Listen, Matthew. You need help! W-what happened t-to you wasn’t your fault! You were t-the victim of a sick child molester. T-there is s-still time to receive help,” Edd reasoned, “T-there is sexual abuse counseling. T-the law has also r-recently extended the statue of limitations to twenty years after the incident. Y-you can hold the person accountable for what they have done.”

“If you say anything else about that day, it would be the last thing you ever fucking say!” Matthew warned menacingly. The 24 year old took Edd’s silence as a sign that Edd agreed with him and switched to a different topic, removing his foot from Edd’s throat and dropping down to his knees on top of Edd’s ribs, “I suppose your little act before was not completely full of horse shit.”

“What do you mean?” Edd asked, rubbing his aching throat.

“You can play all of the little games you want, but you can’t deny that you want me as bad as I want you,” Matthew replied, “your eyes give you away, sweetheart. I can see the lust in them.” 

Edd refused to say another word to the man. Matthew turned around and started searching the sixteen year old boy’s pockets. “Why are you looking through my pockets?”

Matthew refused to answer and pulled out a business card, the business card to Sasha’s bar, “I think I’ll keep this.”  
“Matthew, give that back!” Edd pleaded.

Matthew ignored him, getting up. Edd tried to get up, but Matthew kicked him in the stomach again, immobilizing Edd temporarily. “I’ve got a few errands to run, Princess, but when I come back home tonight, I’ll take you up on the offer you made during your little act.” Matthew exited out of the basement. Edd had a bad feeling about what `errands’ Matthew had to run.


	38. A Bad Night pt 1

“What the fuck did you give him, Lucas?” Seth yelled, shaking his long-time friend. Seth groaned and let go of Lucas, frustrated that his efforts were starting to fall apart at his feet. Eddy was trying to hug Seth, but Seth extended his arm out, blocking Eddy’s attempts. In Eddy’s high state, he seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Seth was not in the mood for physical contact. “Wait, you gave him ecstasy, didn’t you?”

“And here I thought you became too straight-laced to figure it out,” Lucas joked, “Seriously though, I meant to give him an ankle-biter Dahmer cocktail, but I mixed up the pills.” Lucas chuckled a bit, nervously. An ankle-biter Dahmer cocktail was basically sedatives in a non-alcoholic beverage. “I wanted to try out the pills on someone to see if they’re potent enough before I gave Matthew a Dahmer cocktail.” Seth glared at him, which caused Lucas to flinch away, “Y-you know that neither one of us can handle Matthew by ourselves!”

“That’s why I brought those two over here – for reinforcement!” Seth huffed and punched a hole through the wall. “Ah fuck! Son of a bitch, that hurts!” Seth hissed, pulling his fist away from the plaster. Seth plopped down on the floor and ran his fingers through his hair. “Fucking Matthew! Fucking Pipsqueak! Fucking dumbass me! How am I supposed to handle being a parent when I can’t even get Matthew to calm down? We’ve gotten Matthew to your house so many times before during this time of year, why am I starting to fuck up now?”

Lucas didn’t say anything, but rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Seth really did not want Lucas to talk anyway. He sulked on the floor, watching partiers walk past him, completely self-absorbed to notice anything out of the ordinary. Eddy was talking a mile a minute to them, but he could not understand a word the teen said to him. It might be a good idea to take Eddy and Matthew’s “princess” with them to Lucas’ house until Eddy comes down from his high. That seems like what they do with most of their damn problems anyway; Hide it away like an old Christmas fruitcake. 

Eddy danced to the music, unaware of the dilemma the two men were having beside him. Seth took out a cigarette and lit it up. He needed to calm his nerves if he and Lucas ever had a chance of successfully confronting Matthew. He breathed in that relaxing smoke and exhaled, thankful to have enough cigarettes that night. “You know, tonight is a pretty good example of why I was Mr. Sensible and the Muscle and you were Mr. Fix It. I took care of the leg work, the fine details and the common sense aspect of Matthew’s scams and you built them up.” Seth dryly joked, holding the cigarette between his dry lips. Lucas didn’t argue with Seth, because he knew it was the truth. 

Suddenly the room felt colder. Seth turned to find Matthew standing beside them. Seth flinched; he did not even see that man walk towards him. Matthew was standing beside him and he did not even have a goddamn game plan of how he was going to get Matthew back to Lucas’ place. The night had officially gone to hell.

“Hey M-Mattie! Cool party, huh? The techno music can get someone in the mood for dancing,” Seth forced himself to smile, he felt cold sweat trickle down the back of his neck. He looked towards Eddy and seen that the teen was still in plain view. Matthew just paid the teen no mind, unconcerned about the teen’s well-being. Seth suddenly heard something drop to the floor. A few seconds later, his world went black. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*

Edd was able to get off of the floor after a few minutes. Matthew hit like a boxer. Edd attempted to soothe his aching stomach like a pregnant woman rubbing her swollen stomach. He slowly walked out of the room and up the basement steps, his body sore and tired. There was no sign of Matthew, Seth, or Lucas around anywhere upstairs. Edd wondered if the three already headed to Lucas’ house to lock up Matthew.

He found Eddy immediately afterward though seeing Eddy proved to be another thing on the long list of problems. Eddy was under the influence of drugs and they both needed to get back home for the night. Edd quickly walked up to Eddy and placed his hand on Eddy’s shoulder, “Eddy, we need to get out of here. We have to head home with or without Matthew. We also need to call Sasha as soon as we get home. Do you know where Seth and Lucas went?”

“Matthew carried them off somewhere, the big lug!” Eddy laughed.

“This is not good!” Edd muttered. If Matthew carried Seth and Lucas somewhere, the two were in some kind of danger. The Matthew that he was witnessed in the basement was a more dangerous and insane version of the man he normally knew, kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Edd needed to get Eddy home first and then worry about Seth, Lucas, and Sasha. 

“Don’t worry about it, Sockhead,” Eddy replied, hugging on his friend. “I want to fuck you so badly right now. You have no idea how close we are right now.”

Edd quirked an eyebrow, “did you consume anything at this party tonight?”

“I drank some disgusting Kool-aid.” Eddy replied, kissing alongside Edd’s jawline. “I feel so amazing. You feel so amazing right now.”

“Eddy, we need to get home and talk about this.” Edd moaned as Eddy caressed his chest and kissed along his jugular vein.

“Why the rush? We can stay here all night. We can dance and fuck until the sun comes up,” Eddy pouted. Edd held Eddy, perturbed over the endless possibilities that could occur that night. The more Edd held Eddy, the more he became worried over Eddy’s well-being. Eddy’s body felt like it was on fire. His body felt like it was being cooked from the inside. Eddy’s body was also sweating quite profusely. Eddy’s pupils were the size of saucers. Edd needed to get Eddy some medical attention at once before anything occurs.

“Eddy, Eddy! We need to get to Seth’s minivan, immediately! I’m going to take you somewhere where you can get better, do you understand?” Edd talked calmly to Eddy like someone who was talking calmly to a child to get them to go with them to the doctor. Edd knew that he would have to hotwire Seth’s car. He had to do whatever he could to get Eddy to the hospital. Edd’s gut feeling proved to be right when Eddy collapsed onto the floor. Eddy’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. Edd let out a small screech and collapsed onto his knees to hug his unconscious friend, “Eddy!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Matthew rode Lucas’ Jeep like a bat out of hell. Matthew looked towards the dashboard to check how fast he was going. He was traveling over a hundred miles per hour. That’s not a bad reading. He could make some money from a drag race, but that’s not what he was looking for tonight. Tonight he wanted to unleash his wild side and tell the world to kiss his ass. He laughed like a madman escaping the lunatic asylum and turned the music on full blast. “I’m the king of the road, you motherfuckers!” He shouted as cars swerved to avoid a collision. 

He grinned at the rearview mirror when his two traitorous friends in the backseat of the Jeep. Matthew pounded the hood of the Jeep to mock Lucas and Matthew as their muffled voices pleaded with him to untie them. Both of their wrists, knees, and ankles were tied tightly with rope. They were gagged with Matthew’s dirty socks while duct tape covered their mouths. Serves them both right for trying to ruin his good time!

“Rise and shine, you fucking bastards!” Matthew jeered, “You two seem to have forgotten your places as my bitch boys. Now it’s time to put you both back in your place.” Seth tried to wiggle his way out of his binds, but was not successful. Matthew laughed at his attempt, “No use trying to break out. I tied those pretty tightly. No use trying to escape your punishment! You two remember that scene from A Clockwork Orange where Alex kicked the ass of his droogs? Well, this is kind of like that.”

Seth eyed his friend suspiciously, which Matthew noticed and taunted, “Don’t give me that look. You know damn well what you signed up for when you agreed to be my lackey all of those years ago. You might not get to see that bitch of yours or that little ankle-biter of yours again though. Sucks to be you, I guess!”

Seth screamed out at his friend, demanding an answer from the crazed man. Matthew continued, continuing his descent into madness as he raced down the road with the speed to rival that of the fastest bat from hell. Matthew continued, “You two are going to die tonight with me! I figure if I die, you two assholes are coming with me! It’s going to be so poetic! You two would even have a place in my coffin, curled up at my feet like the little lapdogs you are!” 

With that both Lucas and Seth screamed; their sounds were muffled by the socks in their mouths. They squirmed around in their seats like trapped worms. This was it. They were going to meet their maker in this Jeep with Matthew taking the wheel, deciding their fate for them. For whatever reason Matthew decided to have them follow, for whatever weakness they displayed for Matthew to exploit them was all coming to an end. Matthew was like a vindictive, crazed god, deciding which mortals are worthy of serving him and deciding their fates.

Seth closed his eyes. Well, this was it. He was going to be leaving his wife a widow and his unborn child fatherless. Any control he had over his own fate was diminished. His only crime in life was serving as the friend of a complete psycho and wanting to help him. Seth listened as Matthew laughed maniacally, enjoying the sheer thrill of the speed. Matthew listened as metal crashed against metal and felt himself being pulled against his seat. Matthew yelled out, “Here I come, Roy!!” This was the end. 

The car caught against something which broke the car’s fall and was driving down the grassy terrain haphazardly. Seth was flung back and forth in his seat like a crash test dummy. It was only when the car hit something hard that the vehicle completely stopped. When Seth dared to open his eyes, he saw the front of the Jeep smoking in front of a large tree and Matthew getting out of the vehicle.

The binds reminded Seth that he was still alive. He heard Matthew outside of the car laughing like a jester, probably amazed by the amount of damage he did to Lucas’ Jeep. The next thing he knew, the door was opened at his side and he was dragged out of the vehicle by his feet to one of the trees nearby. Lucas was quickly dragged next to him. Bastard had him believing that he was going to die tonight.

Seth stayed down, just in case Matthew was planning on taking his rage out on him. Matthew walked towards Lucas and him and leaned down in front of them, grinning like a Cheshire cat, “You two looked like you were about ready to piss your damn pants!” Matthew joked, “Well, boys, I’ve got a few more errands to run. I also need to change clothes. Don’t want to ruin the clothes or the hat.”

Seth watched powerlessly as Matthew walked off into the dense forest. Seth looked around. If he was not mistaken, they were back in Peach Creek. The thought only made Seth apprehensive. What was Matthew planning? Where was he going? It seemed like Matthew brought them here just to spook them into submission, which was nothing out of the ordinary. Seth knew that Matthew had the upper hand in the situation. Even if he were to find a way to cut off the rope, he still had no idea where Matthew was heading after the guy went home to change his clothes. He couldn’t save Matthew from himself this time.


	39. The Bad Night pt 2

Edd parked the minivan in front of the hospital. His back was strained from having to carry Eddy on his back all the way to Seth’s minivan. Not to mention how many charges he would have faced just to get Eddy in front of the emergency room door; the police would not hesitate to lock him up in a juvenile detention center for speeding, auto theft, driving without a license, and parking in a no-parking zone if he got caught. He would move the minivan once the paramedics get him inside.

Edd quickly rushed to one of the receptionists, panting as he tried to catch his breath. The receptionist was a bespectacled plump blonde woman who had her hair up in a bun. “Please miss, someone very near and dear to me is possibly going to expire in the backseat of my car. My back is strained from having to carry him to the minivan. His name is Eddy McGee and he is sixteen years of age. He ingested something at a party and went unconscious, possibly from hyperthermia. He needs medical attention immediately.” Edd pleaded with the receptionist hysterically. 

“I’ll get someone out there for you. Just hang tight.” The receptionist stated, grabbing an intercom microphone, “Code White. Code White at the front entrance, we have an unconscious sixteen year old male that ODed and needs a stretcher.”

Edd hurried back to the minivan to check on Eddy. Eddy was still unconscious in the backseat. Edd opened the door so that the nurses could load Eddy onto the stretcher. He held Eddy’s hand as he waited for the nurses to show up. He let out a sob that he held in since Eddy first went unconscious at the party. 

Eddy does not deserve to die this young. Sure, Eddy had made a couple of mistakes in his life, but that does not mean that the consequence of those past actions should be death. Eddy still had his whole life ahead of him. Eddy never got a chance to graduate high school. Eddy also never got a chance to experience adulthood. Fate was an extremely cruel mistress. If Eddy lost his life, Edd would not know how to continue without him or even tell Ed the news.

Two paramedics in dark clothing rushed towards the minivan pushing a hospital bed. They stopped the hospital bed near the van. Edd was surprised that both of the paramedics were able to lift Eddy into the stretcher so easily. Though, the two paramedics were probably used to it due to their profession. The paramedics put a ventilator on the sixteen year old and hooked him to IVs.

Edd shut all of the doors and quickly got into the driver’s seat. He watched as the paramedics wheeled Eddy towards the front automatic doors. Edd hot-wired the car again when the paramedics were out of sight and quickly parked the minivan into one of the parking spaces. Edd rushed towards the paramedics who had Eddy and followed them inside of the building.

“Are you a family member of his?” One of the paramedics asked, noticing Edd following them.

“Yes, may I stay with him, please?” Edd asked, desperately. It wasn’t a complete lie. He had been staying at Eddy’s house

The paramedic sighed, “I don’t see why not. We need to get in touch with his parents. Do you know how to reach them?”

“They’re out of town at the moment.” Edd admitted.

“I see,” The paramedic replied, helping his partner scoot the hospital bed into an empty room hospital room, “the nurses should be here shortly.” 

Edd sat down in one of the empty chairs in the room and waited for the nurses to arrive. The hospital room was a cold sterile room. A hospital’s atmosphere was an amalgamation of disease, injury, death, and dying. Just being in a hospital room was depressing enough. He did not want to be there and did not want to watch his friend perish in front of him. However, he had to stay in that cold and miserable place for Eddy’s sake.

Two nurses in brightly colored scrubs rushed into the room. They were too hasty to introduce themselves to Edd and made a bee line towards Eddy. They equipped themselves with fresh gloves and standard medical instruments. One of the nurses pried open Eddy’s mouth and took a look inside. “The patient was severely dehydrated. The saline IV should solve that issue.”

The other nurse was taking Eddy’s temperature. Edd listened with bated breath as the thermometer beeped and the nurse examined the reading. “He’s suffering from hyperthermia. His temperature is 104.9 degrees Fahrenheit. We need to do some blood work to see which drug is in his system. Also, we need to do whatever we can to lower his body temperature. If it gets any higher, it could be fatal.” The nurse took a moment to sigh, “I could be mistaken, but it looks like all of the classic symptoms of an overdose.” 

Hearing the nurse’s words devastated Edd. He had to get out of there. He had to get to the nearest bathroom. Edd rushed down the hallway aimlessly in search of the nearest restroom. He immediately found the nearest unisex bathroom and rushed in, shutting and locking the door behind him. Hot tears streamed down his face as he sobbed into the sink. He couldn’t keep it together. The world was coming down around him and he had no idea how to handle the situation. 

Memories of when he first became Eddy’s lackey flooded every part of his thoughts. It was five days after he first met Eddy and Ed after they had tricked him with that bottomless Ed scam. He remembered that he was in his front yard, building a police station out of Lego pieces. His parents were hesitant about giving him such small pieces at a young age, but they caved when they realized that Edd would not attempt to consume them.

Distracted by his creation, he did not notice Eddy and Ed approach him. “Hey kid, cool police thingy!”

Edd turned towards the sound and seen the two kids that introduced themselves as Ed and Eddy were watching him. “Are you two going to make me throw up again and take my money? Not to be rude, but what you did was mean!”

“Sheesh, you’re still mad about that?” Eddy asked.

Ed chimed in, “Ah, don’t be mad at us, new kid! We’ll make it up to you! I can show my belly button lint!”

“I think I’ll pass on that.” Edd replied quickly, disgusted.

“I was thinking we could go to my house and watch cartoons. Maybe eat the box of cookies that my mom has kept up.” Eddy suggested.

“I don’t know, Eddy.” Edd was a bit hesitant about spoiling his dinner and watching mind-numbing television. His parents would not be too pleased with him if he voluntarily broke their rules for him. He was also not sure why Eddy and Ed were being so nice to him.

“Look, it must suck playing by yourself. Why don’t you come and play with us. You can come inside of our rooms, share our toys, and even help us with our scams. You can even see my brother’s cool magazines. He’s at summer camp right now so he won’t know a thing. How about it, Edd?”

“What?” Ed asked.

“I wasn’t talking to you, stupid!” Eddy answered irritably, “I was talking to the new kid!”

“Oh,” Ed replied.

“I don’t know,” Edd fidgeted, “why do you want to be friends with me?”

“Look, there’s just sumthin’ about you that makes me wanna be pals with you. What do you say, new friend?” Eddy extended his hand out towards Edd.

Edd took his hand and shook it, “I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

“Great! Ed and I were in middle of watching a cartoon where this guy runs around in just his big boy pants. Pretty kooky, right Edd?” Eddy giggled. Edd couldn’t help but giggle at the thought of someone running around in just their underwear. His parents would’ve thrown a fit if Edd ever did something like that.

“What?” Ed asked.

“Shut up, Ed!” Eddy retorted. He then turned towards Edd, “Ignore Ed, he’s still like a big baby in some ways, but the lump is always there when you need him.”

“I see,” Edd replied.

“What?” Ed asked again.

Eddy glared at Ed and turned back to Edd, “we need to come up with a nickname for you or Ed will think I’m talking to him.”  
“What kind of nickname?” Edd asked.

“Let me think for a moment. Edd with two D’s is long and stupid.” Eddy thought for a moment. “Ah ha! Your nickname will be Double D!”

“Why Double D?” Edd asked, not sure if he liked his new nickname.

Eddy didn’t listen to him and faced Ed. “Hey Space Lump! Come and meet our new friend, Double D!” Ed got the biggest grin on his face and crushed Edd in a bone-crushing hug to welcome his new friend to the group.

After Edd was done sobbing in the bathroom, he went back to Eddy’s room masking his sorrow with a neutral expression. His eyes were still tinged red from crying. The doctor was now in the room, helping the nurses reduce Eddy’s temperature. Several hours passed by and Edd sat still, watching his friend’s condition not improve in the slightest. Edd’s legs and butt were completely numb from sitting too long in the chair.

The doctor turned towards Edd, “we’re going to need his parents down here. Is there any way we can get a hold of them?"

“They’re out of town at the moment for the weekend, but I can contact our caretaker and let him know that Eddy is in the hospital.” Edd replied, nervously.

“That would be great,” The doctor replied. “The phone’s out in the hallway.”

Edd thanked the doctor and looked around the hallway for the phone. He was not too sure of whom he was going to call, but he had to call somebody. In the distance, he seen nurses wheel a bleeding patient handcuffed to the stretcher into one of the empty rooms. It kind of looked like Matthew, but he wasn’t too sure. 

When he found the phone, he dialed the number to Sasha’s bar. The phone rang several times and went to voicemail. A cold shudder crept along Edd’s back. Edd then pulled the phonebook near the phone in front of him and flipped through the pages. When he found Seth’s number, he dialed it and waited for Seth to answer. 

The phone rang a couple of times and a gruff voice uttered, “Hello?” It was Seth’s voice and by the sound of it, Seth sounded both fatigued and injured.

“Seth, are you alright? This is Edd, Matthew’s brother’s friend. Where’s Matthew?” Edd asked, frantically.

“Motherfucker crashed Lucas’ Jeep into a fucking tree with me and Lucas tied up in the backseat and took off. I don’t know where the fuck he went. I just got home an hour ago to rest a while after my cousins found me and Lucas in the woods.” Seth groaned out in pain, “My back and neck are fucking killing me. I need to rest for the night and let my back heal and I still need to get my fucking car from that one house. I also need to find Matthew, wherever that bastard is at.”

“You should relax for the night to avoid exerting yourself and allow yourself a chance to heal. Besides, I borrowed your car to get Eddy to the hospital. I’m going to need ask a favor of you. I’m going to need you to come in tomorrow to the hospital and meet up with Eddy’s doctor if your back is feeling better by then.”

“I’m sure the pain will go away in the morning.” Seth replied, “I’ll be there tomorrow to deal whatever is wrong with Pipsqueak and to get my car back. I still don’t know how you borrowed the damn thing when I had the keys in my pocket before I got home. See you tomorrow, kid.”

Edd hung up the phone, his stomach was tied in knots. Seth and Lucas were hurt in a car crash that was caused by Matthew. Matthew took off and could be anywhere. Eddy is in the hospital and is in critical condition from the sound of it. Sasha did not answer his phone. The cold feeling in Edd’s gut told him that bad things had happened and Edd shuddered at imagining how much worse the night could possibly get.

A/N: Check out a Two Eds and a Bro related comic by Scammychan here: http://scammychan.tumblr.com/post/106289464162/and-a-bonus-page-that-was-not-part-of-the


	40. A Bad Night pt 3

Sasha wiped down the bar counter for the umpteenth time that night. He did not know what it was, but something gave him the creeps. He watched an old horror movie on the big screen TV of his bar, trying to get his mind at ease. He wore his old glasses reluctantly to watch the movie. The scene in the movie in particular was one of the numerous scenes where Freddy Krueger would hit on one of his to-be victims. It was still embarrassing to wear them. He had no clue why he wore them throughout middle school and high school. 

Even the horror movie that he watched over a hundred times was not enough to calm his nerves. He started wiping down the bar in front of him to calm his nerves. It was getting close to that time of year again and he was concerned over what Matthew might do. His hands were shaking and he abandoned the washcloth on the bar. He poured himself a glass of rum and sipped it. Kevin was still in his apartment watching monster trucks, which Sasha never understood the appeal of. 

Sasha was worried if Kevin would be alright at his place tonight. He gave the two teens his business card as a lifeline in case they were in trouble. However, he also risked a big chance of Matthew finding out where he was. Matthew did live with the teens after all. Oh well! Sasha was not going to beat himself up over being a good Samaritan. Sasha debated himself on if he should call his aunt and uncle and have them pick up Kevin early. One look at the clock across the room made him decide against calling them. It was too late in the evening, almost morning, and they were most likely in bed.

Memories of the past dwelled in his mind like an angry storm of bees swarming around his head. His hand was shaking around the glass of rum. It was such an odd way to think, but Matthew had hurt Sasha more than the sick individual who touched Sasha’s privates when he was ten years old. However, the sex offender was the catalyst to all of his problems from Matthew. Before that incident, Matthew was just a common bully and scammer. After the incident, Matthew took sadistic pleasure in hurting him even when they had a sexual relationship with one another. It was almost as if Matthew blamed him for what had happened. As if he were solely responsible for the fact that Matthew got molested. If Matthew couldn’t hurt the sex offender, he could hurt Sasha in place of that person. 

The door opened in his bar with caused him to cough on his rum. He cleared his throat and mentally chastised himself for being so jumpy. He has not seen Matthew since they were both teenagers. Why would Matthew even come looking for him after so long? It’s probably some idiot who ignored the closed sign. “Go on home; bar’s closed for the night.” Whoever was at the door was not leaving or saying anything to him. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Go home and come back tomorrow!” The person was persistent, whoever they were. Seth kept his gaze on his glass of rum. He did not want to deal with drunks at this early in the morning. 

“Is that any way to talk to customers, Sasha?” Sasha’s blood ran cold at the sound of the person’s voice. It couldn’t be! He was doing his damnedest to keep himself from trembling. He finally looked towards the door and realized that his worst fears have come true. Matthew was standing in the doorway wearing clothes only fit for someone that was looking to rob a place. To Sasha, a black hooded sweatshirt, black jeans, and black Doc Martens-looking boots just looks out of place outside of a rock concert.

“Get out!” Sasha shouted, “You’re not welcome here!”

Matthew smirked and let himself in. Sasha visibly shook at the nightmare that was laid before him. He did not know what Matthew wanted, but it was likely not anything good. “What the hell do you want, Matthew?” 

“How about some drinks on the house and see where things go from there,” Matthew sat at the bar as casually as a customer would during normal bar hours, “Also make sure it’s not one of those sissy girly drinks that the `out and proud’ types like to drink.”

Sasha was more than a bit miffed over Matthew waltzing in like he owned the place and demanding free drinks – in the middle of the night none the less, but he had to maintain a calm demeanor if he wanted to live to see the morning. “As a bisexual, you should be more sympathetic to the gay community and LGBT causes,” Sasha replied, coolly, pouring Matthew a shot of vodka and sliding it to him.

“So because I love to fuck guys on occasions, I should parade around in a sequined thong in a damn pride parade? That might seem appealing to a little slut like you, but I’ll pass.” Matthew gulped down his drink, “I suppose that’s why you’re running a bar, am I right? You get your choice of dick and can fucking offer them free drinks if they fuck your ass in the bathroom.”

“I honestly don’t know where you’re getting at. You’re either bashing me for my sexual orientation or are jealous that I moved on from your psychotic ass! It’s over, Matthew. I have no idea why you barged into my life after almost a decade, but I don’t want to see you after this night is over with, so hurry up and tell me how much vodka you want, so I can go to bed.” Sasha was quickly losing his temper. He had a very short fuse anymore when it came to melodrama and it was getting even shorter the longer that Matthew stayed there. Sasha was both fearful and irritated. He only hoped Kevin did not come into the bar looking for him.

“I’ll take a whole bottle,” Matthew announced, reaching over the bar to grab one of the bottles of vodka in stock. Sasha never anticipated Matthew hitting him over the head with the vodka bottle. It happened so fast. He felt the bottle make painful contact with his cheekbone and he hit the floor like a bag of potatoes. 

Sasha gazed up at Matthew, “you crazy fuck!” Sasha checked each of his teeth to see if they were in place. His cheek was in tremendous pain and blood gushed out of his mouth. He found the source of the blood when he spit out one of his teeth. He groaned in pain. The one thing he did not buy for the bar was a gun. He considered it an unnecessary expense since he lived closely to a police station. He now regretted that decision. 

Any hopes of getting up and getting to the phone to dial 9-1-1 was diminished when he was dragged away from the bar by his legs and into the middle of the bar where the phone was out of reach. He flailed and kicked to get away from Matthew, but the kicks that did connect only fazed Matthew only in the slightest. It was not enough to get a chance to get up and run towards the phone. He quietly whimpered out in pain. He knew he would endanger Kevin if he made loud noises of distress. 

Matthew dropped down on top of him, straddling his waist and pinning his wrists over his head. “Let me guess, Sasha, you were tired of being the geeky kid who everyone ignored, so you dress like those Californian Abercrombie boy-next-door types, spike your hair, and open a gay bar. All of that, so you get fucked by whoever comes walking in through that door, including my own damn brother and princess.” Matthew threw Sasha’s own business card in Sasha’s face infuriately. 

“Princess?” Sasha blinked. Then Sasha remembered the kid the teen that hung around Eddy, “You didn’t – You didn’t!” Sasha struggled to escape, “your brother and his friend were just curious about the bar. He introduced himself to me. When I heard his last name, I knew he was your younger brother and sent them on their way. I gave them my card in case they needed help with anything. That’s all that happened.”

“Fucking liar!” Matthew spat. Matthew delivered a series of punches to Sasha’s face, neck, chest, and arms when Sasha put up his arms in defense. Sasha’s glasses lay broken beside him. “You were planning on using my own fucking brother and princess against me, weren’t you? You were planning on fucking me over like you always have! Just like how you told everybody about my bisexuality in high school and how you got me raped! It’s all your fault! I wouldn’t be like this if I’ve never met you in the first place, you fucking whore!”

Matthew stopped punching Sasha for a minute to rub his sore knuckles and catch his breath. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins, causing his breath to come out in heavy pants. Sasha tried to lift himself up, but Matthew was too heavy. “Would you listen to yourself for five minutes? You’re hysterical!” Sasha firmly chastised, blood from his tooth still gushed out of his mouth. “I did not tell the school about your sexuality nor was it my fault that you got molested. You need help!”

“You’re a fucking liar!” Matthew repeated. What Matthew did next surprised Sasha. Matthew caressed Sasha’s cheek gently much like times he did in private when they were pseudo-dating. Sasha shuddered with disgust. As if Sasha was not already convinced that Matthew needed psychological help before. He winced heard more of Matthew’s rage-induced rambling, “that cousin of yours still lives next door to my parent’s house. Maybe I should fuck him in front of you just so you know all of the pain that you have caused me over the years. I knew Kevin was your fucking cousin when I first seen him outside of my trailer four years ago and when I seen him when I first moved back in with my parents. He looks so much like you to be anybody else but that cousin you used to babysit.”

“You will not touch him! Don’t you even dare think about touching him!” Sasha shouted, face twisting with rage, “I’ll fucking kill you if you touch him!” Sasha decided to fight back. Sasha freed his hands and punched at Matthew’s face blindly. He noticed a red blur, indicating that Matthew’s nose was bleeding. It was so hard to see without his contacts or his glasses on. Sasha knew that the hit must have enraged Matthew, because he heard Matthew growl when he was hit. Sasha felt hands around neck, squeezing the air out of his windpipes. Sasha choked as the oxygen in his lungs was depleting. Sasha tried to push Matthew off of him, but he was growing weaker as he struggled to breath. Sasha shouted weakly for help as Matthew tightened his grip around his neck. This was it; Sasha might as well accept that he was going to die by Matthew’s hands.

Suddenly he heard Matthew shout in pain. Sasha felt the grip on his neck weaken as Matthew groaned out in pain. Sasha slowly opened his eyes and saw a green and red blur. Kevin! Near Kevin was the blur that was definitely Matthew and a strange steel blur next to Matthew. It was most likely a knife sticking out of Matthew’s back. “Cuz –“

“Don’t talk,” Kevin replied, pulling the knife out of Matthew’s back, “The cops and hopefully the ambulance is on their way. Just hang tight, cuz.” Sasha felt Matthew slump on top of him. Sasha tried to remain conscious, but passed out before the cops could even show up. Sasha would later find out that Matthew was stabbed in almost the exact same area that Matthew stabbed him years ago. Karma was a funny thing.


	41. The Bad Night pt 4

Edd felt his eyes grow heavy as he continued to watch the doctors treat Eddy for his current condition. It was both physically and emotionally exhausting to watch the doctors run circles around his friend like ballerinas at a play. It was almost morning and Edd did not get an ounce of sleep. He needed some caffeine. He excused himself and walked into the hallway.

Cops in blue uniforms just got finished talking with Matthew’s doctor and were conversing amongst themselves, discussing details of the case. They surrounded the room the man was in. “Was the crime a hate-motivated one? The victim is a bar-owner of a gay bar. I would imagine that he is likely to be the target of homophobic individuals.” One of the cops stated, taking notes.

“Does not seem to be,” One of the other cops replied, “According to the victim’s underage cousin, Kevin Barr, it was personal. Sasha Barr and Matthew McGee knew each other for years and McGee held a grudge against the victim. McGee also has a couple of priors for public intoxication and disturbing the peace. How did the scene look?”

“It was . . . what you would expect from an assault scene. There were puddles of blood and saliva, one of them containing a tooth, most likely from the victim. There was another large puddle of blood near where the victim and McGee lay unconscious before squad cars arrived. The puddle most likely came from McGee. The assault started at the bar and ended five feet towards the middle of the floor. A pair of glasses that belonged to the victim also broke during the scene. It seems like the victim was watching a horror movie before McGee showed up.”

“The puddle collaborates with Kevin’s witness statement. Kevin claimed to have heard his cousin’s screams coming from the apartment. The apartment and the bar are connected as one building. Kevin then claimed that he grabbed a knife from the kitchen for protection and went into the bar area where McGee had the victim in a chokehold. Kevin was afraid of McGee and stabbed McGee to save his own cousin.”

“Will Kevin Barr be charged for stabbing McGee?” The first cop asked, hesitantly.

“Not likely. Barr’s actions fell under Castle doctrine. Kevin Barr was an occupant in the home and rightfully believed that both he and Sasha Barr were in danger. Kevin Barr was released into his parents care. Both parents were rightfully shook up.” The second cop answered.

“I can see why Kevin would believe that. Did you see the victim yet?” The first cop asked.

“I have not,” The second cop answered back.

“Sasha Barr’s face looks like a damn purple balloon. One of his teeth completely broke off according the doctor and Sasha’s whole upper body was bruised up. Sasha Barr is alright though. The only thing he needs is some rest. McGee’s going to be fine as well. The worst that might happen is that he might have a lot of difficulty lifting heavy items and exerting himself from getting stabbed in the back, but he’ll be fine once he wakes up. He’ll be read his rights and transported to the county jail once doctors release him.”

“He might actually think twice before pulling another stunt like that,” The second cop joked, grimly.

“We can only hope,” The second cop joked back, “let’s head back to the station and get our notes together. McGee is not going anywhere.”

Edd waited for the cops to leave. Everything was happening all at once. Sasha got hurt and Edd was too worried about Eddy to call the bar owner sooner. Then there was that unavoidable feeling deep within his chest. He was not going to see Matthew for a long while. Knowing the justice system, the court system would not go easy on Matthew, especially considering the nature of his crime and the fact that he had priors. His rational mind told him that was the best thing to ever happen to Matthew. Matthew was a loose cannon and hurt a lot of people in the process. 

However, there was a part of his heart that ached thinking about losing Matthew. The feeling was not love. Edd was sure that he would never love Matthew in a romantic sense or become possessive over the man. However, it still hurt to know that he would not see Matthew for several years, depending upon how Matthew is sentenced. Perhaps it was undeserved sympathy for the 24 year old. Edd did not know how much of the man’s volatile personality was from trauma and how much was just nature. Edd knew that he may never know the answer to that question.

He found himself walking toward Matthew’s room. He looked to see if the police officers from before were still around. Thankfully they were not nor were there any doctors around. Edd entered the room and walked slowly to Matthew’s bed. The man was connected to IVs, a blood pressure monitor, and other medical equipment that is used to monitor the man’s health. One of the IVs is filled with blood to replenish the blood the man lost from the stabbing. 

The man looked strangely serene amongst the cold instruments. Edd leaned over the bed, careful not to bump into the medical equipment that was used to keep Matthew’s health stable. Matthew’s left hand was still handcuffed to the bed. He leaned closer to Matthew’s face and brushed his lips against the man’s, his hand resting on Matthew’s bicep. He withdrew a few seconds later and took one last look at Matthew. “Goodbye Matthew.” Edd turned on his heel and walked out of the hospital room, not sparing Matthew another glance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!$!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edd looked around the waiting room for a soda machine. Instead he found a large lump of a human sitting in a corner in a puddle of his own tears. Edd walked towards the lump and rested his hand upon the person’s shoulder. “Ed?”

The person turned around and faced Edd with tears streaming down their face. “Double D!” Ed sobbed, pressing his face into Edd’s shirt to cry. Edd wrapped his arms around Ed and held Ed gently as Ed sobbed loudly. “Eddy’s hurt. Our Eddy is hurt!”

Edd wondered why Ed was at the hospital and who told him about Eddy’s condition. Edd’s first guess was Seth, but from the sound of it, Seth did not even want leave his house. So who told Ed that Eddy was in the hospital? “It’s going to be alright, Ed,” Edd soothed, rubbing Ed’s back, “who told you that Eddy was here?”

“Some brown-haired guy with a weird phone told me,” Ed replied, “he was at Eddy’s house eating a bunch of food and watching talk shows. I didn’t even know they came on at this time.”

`Must have been Lucas,’ Edd thought to himself. Edd could take a wild guess at what happened after he got off of the phone with Seth. More than likely Seth called Lucas to watch over the house and keep an eye out for Matthew in case he came by. Ed came by the house to see Eddy and Edd and found Lucas instead. 

“It’s going to be alright Ed,” Edd replied, unsure if he was trying to convince Ed or himself with those words, “The doctors are doing the best they can for Eddy. Eddy’s sick at the moment and we both would need to hang tight while the doctors do what they can. Alright?”

“Okay,” Ed nodded, wiping away the tears in his eyes. Edd hated seeing the serious side of Ed. He was more used to the happy-go-lucky side of Ed where everything and everyone was a part of a big science fiction movie plot where Ed was the main protagonist. However, there were no heroes this time. There were no monsters or clichéd alien plots to take over the earth. There was also no guarantee for a happy ending. There was just Ed and his worry.

“I need to head back to Eddy’s room now, Ed. He needs someone to stay with him.” Edd explained, stepping away from Ed.

“I’ll go with,” Ed replied.

“I’m sorry, Ed, but you can’t. Only one of us can be back there with Eddy. Besides, you don’t want to see Eddy while he’s sick in the hospital room. I can barely stand it when I’m in there,” Edd explained, remorsefully, “You might be able to visit him during visiting hours tomorrow. You need to go back home and get some rest.”

“I’m not going home.” Ed replied stubbornly, “I’ll stay here until Eddy is well!”

“Alright, Ed,” Edd caved, “you can stay in the waiting room if you want to. Just try to get some rest. Okay, Ed?” Ed nodded sullenly. “Thank you, Ed. I’ll let you know if Eddy wakes up before the morning arises. Otherwise, I’ll be back in the waiting room tomorrow to see you again. Goodnight Ed. Do try to get some sleep tonight.”

Edd watched as Ed nodded again. Poor guy. Nobody should go through the pain of their friend dying; especially not Ed. Ed knew that the situation was serious, even if the guy believed that Eddy was just seriously ill. The most tragic thing about the situation was that Ed and Eddy never got a chance to make up for their fight over the Kanker sisters. 

Edd headed back into Eddy’s room, completely forgetting about why he even left the room in the first place. Edd felt like he was walking around in a nightmare. Nothing felt real in that moment. Things were just too horrible to be real. The coldness of the hospital chair he sat in reminded him that it was not a nightmare, it was real life.

He took Eddy’s limp hand and held it tightly. He wanted to express his heartfelt love to his friend. He could not imagine life without Eddy. Edd got up for a second to kiss Eddy’s forehead. Eddy was still warm, still had life inside of him. Eddy was not a complete corpse yet. That gave Edd a glimmer of hope. Eddy is going to pull through.

Edd sat back down and yawned. He needed to get some rest. How is he supposed to watch over Eddy if he is too tired when the day comes? Edd slouched in the chair, hoping that the uncomfortable seat would provide him some easy rest. His eyes started to feel heavy. He started to nod off when the doctor and one of the nurses came in.

“What is the toxicology report?” The doctor asked.

“The drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine was found within Eddy McGee’s system. My guess is that he snuck off to a party, taking advantage of the fact that his parents were out of town,” The nurse replied. Edd was not the least bit surprised that Eddy had taken Ecstasy at that party. It would explain Eddy’s actions before he went unconscious. Eddy was completely under the drug’s influence.

“Teenagers today.” The doctor sighed, “It’s not shocking to say the least. I’ve gotten plenty of teenagers over the years pulling similar stunts. Teenagers are brought in for alcohol poisoning, overdosing on their parent’s pain medicine, misusing their friend’s medicine, or even overdosing on hard drugs. Teenagers see their parents going out of town and think that it’s time to go buck wild. As they say, when the cats are play, the mice will play.”

The nurse nodded, “McGee seems fine right now. We should probably check back in an hour. Hopefully catch a ten minute break sometime during my shift. This has been a busy night. I’m starting to wonder if there’s a full moon outside.”

“There could be,” The doctor dryly joked, heading out of the room.

Edd was too tired to argue with the doctor, even if what the doctor said was true. If Eddy would not have blindly drunk something at that party, they both would not be in the hospital room. There was another feeling that was creeping into his chest. He loved Eddy.

Sure, he knew that he was physically attracted to Eddy before the whole mess. However, as he watched Eddy in the stretcher, he came face-to-face over his true emotions for the other teen. Eddy was more than a friend to him and more than a fling. He wanted to them to be mutually attracted to one another. He wanted to be the one that made Eddy’s heart flutter. He did not know if Eddy felt the same way. He held Eddy’s hand as he drifted off to sleep, memories of Eddy consumed his dreams.


	42. The Morning After

Edd had barely gotten a few hours of sleep before Seth came to Eddy’s hospital room and vouched for them. The doctor explained Eddy’s condition to Seth and walked out of the room to tend to other patients. Seth told the doctor that both Edd and Eddy snuck out when he was asleep. “Teenagers; who can keep track of them these days,” Seth joked with the doctor. The doctor seemed to have accepted Seth’s version of events. At least Edd wouldn’t have to worry about the doctor calling child services anytime soon.

When the doctors left, Seth turned to Edd, “first things first. Where’s my car?”

“It’s in the row AKA 10. There’s also something else that you need to know.” Edd replied.

“Oh? And what is that?” Seth asked, drinking down a large paper cup of black coffee like it was water. 

Edd sighed, “I found Matthew. He’s here in the hospital. He was stabbed in the back in self defense, according to the police. I eavesdropped on them for a second.”

“I’ll call Lucas,” Seth sighed in frustration, “Mattie’s going to need a damn good lawyer if he wants to get out of jail before the next decade.”

Edd told Seth Matthew’s room number and advised Seth not to stay in Matthew’s room for too long and to watch out for police officers. Seth only nodded and headed towards the door, limping as he walked. Edd noticed that Seth was also slouching when the dark-haired man stood to talk to him. Seth was in bad shape.

Edd could not understand the relationship between Seth and Matthew or Lucas and Matthew for that matter. Despite everything that Matthew has done, Seth is still at the man’s beck and call. Perhaps it had something to do with the weakness Matthew found in Seth at an early age. The trio had a strange friendship.

Edd noticed Eddy slowly opened his eyes. Edd’s heart stopped at that sight of his friend. Eddy was awake. Eddy was finally awake. Edd rushed over to Eddy, “you’re awake! You’re finally awake!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eddy replied, looking around the room, “why am I at the hospital?”

“You overdosed on the drug meth-Ecstasy.” Edd corrected himself, knowing that Eddy probably would not know the scientific name for the drug.

“Fuck, no wonder why I’m feeling like shit,” Eddy replied. “Where’s Matthew?”

“I have some bad news, Eddy,” Edd sighed, “Matthew is going to be charged with assaulting Sasha. I’m sorry, Eddy.”

“Fucking Matthew,” Eddy cursed, solemnly, “no matter what I do, he always leaves.”

“Instead of foolishly relying on your brother to act more mature and fulfill his role as an older sibling, you should appreciate the people around you who will not leave your side like me for example,” Edd explained.

“Why do you constantly stay by my side? What’s in it for you?” Eddy asked.

Edd quickly went quiet when Eddy asked him that question. How was he supposed to answer that? What if he told Eddy the truth and drives the other teen away? Though keeping it a secret would probably do worse harm to Eddy’s and his relationship. After some thinking, Edd decided to spill the truth to his friend. “Well, it’s because I love you!” Edd replied. “When we were just kids, I regarded you as a very close friend of mine. As I grew older, I became more physically attracted to you. With the recent events that have occurred during the previous weeks, I have come to accept that I love you, Eddy. I love you more than anyone else.”

Eddy looked shocked. He blinked owlishly at Edd. Edd was afraid that he might have said the wrong thing to Eddy. He started to wish that he could take back what he said. Was Eddy upset at him? Edd waited in anticipation. Eddy flashed a cocky grin and winked at Edd, “I don’t blame you, baby. I’m the best-looking guy in all of Peach Creek.”

“With your blatant flirting, you must be feeling better,” Edd shook his head, halfheartedly and smiled at the other teen.

Eddy grinned wickedly, “If you want me to feel even better, come closer.”

“What are you planning, Eddy?” Edd asked.

Eddy beckoned him with one finger, “come here and you’ll find out.”

Edd approached the bed and crouched down to where he was face-to-face with Eddy. Eddy took Edd by surprise by kissing him. Those warm, tantalizing lips caused Edd to shiver with pleasure and moan. Edd opened his mouth to suck on Eddy’s top lip. Eddy also opened his mouth and massaged Edd’s bottom lip with his own tongue. Edd leveled his head to where he could easily received more of the gentle massages from Eddy’s tongue. Their tongues engaged in a familiar dance until Edd pulled away to catch his breath. “You still know how make me tremble,” Edd admitted, “We should probably stop. The doctor could come in at any moment and catch us.”

“You still owe me several weeks of kisses, Sockhead,” Eddy joked.

“You will just have to get repaid back once you are at of the hospital,” Edd joked back and added, “There’s also someone here that wants to see you.”

“Who?” Eddy asked.

“I’ll have to go get him. I’ll be back in a second,” Edd said as he exited out of the room. A minute later, Eddy heard a noise like someone flopping down in front of the door. Edd’s voice could also be heard after the noise, “Please, get up. Eddy’s not going to yell or hurt you.” Edd opened the door and let himself in, leaving the door ajar. Eddy tilted his head to the side and seen that Ed was the one in front of the door.

“What do you want, burhead?” Eddy asked.

Ed shuffled forward, still on his knees. Ed had his bottom lip out and looked at Eddy sadly with an expression that could only be described as giving Eddy “puppy dog eyes.”

“What?” Eddy asked.

Edd shuffled two inches forward, his expression never changing.

Eddy sighed, “alright, Lumpy. I’m not mad at you. Come here and give me a hug, you big old lump!”

Ed jumped up and sped towards Eddy gleefully, wrapping the teen in a tight bear hug, “oh boy! Oh boy! We are three once again!”

“Ed, careful with him! Eddy is still recovering,” Edd gently scolded.

“Gee Lumpy, I really love the smell of your pits and all, but my IVs are about to rip out!” Eddy squirmed, trying to not to get hurt.

“Oops, sorry!” Ed apologized, letting Eddy go.

“It’s fine, Ed,” Eddy replied.

The next several hours were spent watching cheesy unfunny sitcoms and chatting amongst themselves. The doctor and nurses came and went. Eddy was able to move around and eat just fine. However, the doctor still wanted to keep Eddy at the hospital for a few days for observation. Seth also came a few times to check on the teens. The Eds hardly noticed the guy there. Seth would come in and read a tattoo magazine for a few minutes and exit out of the room to check on Matthew. Edd was pretty sure that Seth had gotten the cops’ permission to be in there. That’s the only logical explanation to Seth’s behavior. After a few hours, Eddy received a couple of unexpected visitors that he was not planning on seeing so soon.

“Eddy! Are you alright dear?” One of his heavyset visitors rushed towards him and held one of his hands desperately.

“Mom? Dad? You two are back!” Eddy exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Mr. McGee replied behind his wife, “we went straight home as soon as we found out that the phone was disconnected.”

“Are you two alright?” Mrs. McGee asked, “What happened? Why was the phone disconnected? The doctors told me that you overdosed on an illegal drug.”

“I drank something at a party I shouldn’t have,” Eddy admitted shamefully, “as for the phone, Matthew disconnected it during one of his rages.”

Mr. McGee exhaled with great disappointment, “I told you, Margaret. I told you that Matthew was a lazy, irresponsible sociopath. That son of a bitch stopped being our son the moment he was thrown out. I don’t understand why you keep holding onto hope for him.”

“Please Carl, not now.” Mrs. McGee pleaded, “Our little Eddy is still recovering.”

“Our little Eddy is recovering because Matthew wasn’t watching him like he was supposed to and dumped the kids on what’s-his-face! The one that grew up with Matthew and met us with the doctor,” Carl retorted, “God help us if Matthew ever becomes a parent. He couldn’t even keep a goddamn job at a fucking carnival.”

“Matthew is a dad.” Eddy chimed in, hoping to steer the conversation into a more pleasant one, “He’s got two five year old girls and a three year old girl. Each of them has different moms.”

Both of his parents were shocked by the news. Margaret got a twinkle in her eyes. Eddy knew that twinkle and already felt sorry for his nieces. He knew his nieces would face an onslaught of kisses and grandmotherly affection from his mother. The look on his dad’s face was worry and pity. Just one look on his dad’s told him his dad’s exact opinion on being a grandpa; he pitied his grandchildren for having Matthew as a biological father.

“So where is Matthew anyway?” Carl spoke up.

“He’s down the hall, handcuffed to the hospital bed.” Both parents gave Edd a questioning look, “according to the cops, Matthew got stabbed in the back in self defense when he attacked the owner of a homosexual-orientated establishment.”

“Christ, I need a cigar. I’ll be right back,” Carl replied gruffly, kissing his wife and ruffling Eddy’s hair. He exited out of the room, leaving the three of them.

“I’m sorry about your father,” Margaret apologized to Eddy, “Matthew causes him a great deal of stress and he becomes quite angry because of it.” Then she added offhandedly, “I’ll visit Matthew later. Right now, I want to spend time with you and make sure that you’re alright. Both Carl and I missed you terribly while we were gone.”

“I’m fine, mom,” Eddy huffed, embarrassed.

“Excuse me, Mrs. McGee,” Edd spoke up, “did you find the whereabouts of my parents?”

Margaret frowned sorrowfully, “No, they were not found. The only things found were Sam’s and Marian’s photo IDs and that was it. The police have no leads on where they are or what happened to them. The case has been declared a cold case. 

Edd mourned the loss of his parents. Just hearing that was like hearing that they were dead. Margaret seen that and put her arm around Edd, “no matter what, Eddward, you still have your whole future ahead of you and that’s what Sam and Marian would want you to focus on instead of their disappearance. We will all miss them greatly. You’ll grow up into an intelligent adult.” Margaret put her arm around Eddy as well, “you both will grow up into fine grown men.” 

“Gee, thanks mom!” Eddy muttered.

“Tell you what, boys,” Margaret announced, “when we get home, I’ll make some nice lasagna for all of us. Then for sides, I’ll make bruschetta and garlic bread.”

“What are you trying to do? Fatten us up so we won’t leave the house?” Eddy grumbled, knowing that he would most likely get a stomachache after eating so much food.

“You’re lucky I don’t ground you!” Margaret retorted. Edd could only smile at the exchange between mother and son. This was going to be his family until his own is found. He did not mind the idea of being a part of their family. 

A/N: Just one more chapter to go. Thank you to all who have stuck by this story and left reviews to this story. I really appreciate it. Be sure to look out for the sequel and the prequel after this story is done. You wouldn’t want to miss it!


	43. Epilogue

It was four months since Eddy was out of the hospital, Eddy recovered from the ordeal just fine. The loud-mouthed teen was back to normal. The leaves changed into beautiful hues of red and orange. The carved jack-o-lanterns were still left out from Halloween. Edd carried his heavy school books and college acceptance letter down Rethink Avenue, admiring the scenic beauty of the season.

Eddy was waiting outside of the house for him. Eddy had skipped school to go with his parents to hear the verdict of Matthew’s case. The whole case was a rollercoaster of emotions ranging from the testimony of psychiatrists to Kevin’s own witness testimony. Kevin was never charged for stabbing Matthew in self defense. Edd was thankful that neither Eddy nor he had to testify before the court. Then again, the prosecutor had enough evidence to take Matthew to trial. “What was the verdict?” Edd asked as he hugged on Eddy. 

“Matthew got six years for battery. He’ll be eligible for parole in four years,” Eddy replied, unbuttoning the top three buttons of his court shirt. “That’s hell of a lot better! I swear this damn shirt is trying to choke me!”

Kevin was walking with Rolf and Nazz. Nazz recently got her cast off and was walking fine despite the months spent off of one of her feet. Nazz also resigned for the cheer squad until she got her cast removed. Edd was sure Nazz would start cheerleading again next semester. Kevin seemed to have forgiven the Eds again for Matthew’s folly. Edd was grateful for the gesture. He was not sure how he would have dealt with constantly hiding away from Kevin during the entire school year. Edd supposed it had something with Sasha. During a few of the court appearances when Sasha met the two teens out in the hallway, he graciously offered the two to visit the bar in a couple of years. Rolf walked his new goat as he walked with Nazz and Kevin. His new goat looked entirely like Victor, except for the fact that it had a powdered pink bow. In fact, Rolf even named the goat “Victoria.”

“So when is your darling nieces expected back at the house?” Edd asked.

Eddy shrugged, “this weekend, probably. Mom can’t get enough of them. Last time they were at the house, Mom had the poor girls dolled up like Shirley Temple and baked a shitload of cookies with them. I swear, it’s like my mom wanted to have a girl or something. At least my nieces got enough cookies to open up a bakery scam.” Then Eddy added, “Heck, even my dad is starting to warm up to them. Danielle, Bonnie, and Edna will be just fine without Matthew around.”

`They’re probably better off without Matthew around,’ Edd thought to himself. Then Edd asked, “Speaking of Matthew, how is Lucas and Seth?”

“The last I heard Seth is preparing for the birth of his kid and bought a crib and a bunch of other baby junk. I guess his wife is expected to give birth to a little girl in two months. I guess they’re going to name her Raven. The redheaded pregnant babe with all of the tattoos at Matthew’s trial was her,” Eddy replied. “As for Lucas, I guess he’s moving out of his dad’s mansion and is getting his own. The guy gets a trust fund from his dead heiress mom, so he’ll be living in the lap of luxury until the day he dies.”

“That’s nice to know,” Edd replied. 

“I have more good news,” Eddy replied, “Both Mom and Dad is going to be gone until later on tonight. Dad’s got to work at car shop until late and Mom has bingo with Ed’s mom. Ed is also going to be at the Kanker sisters’ house. We have the whole house to ourselves.”

“Let me guess, you want to engage in dirty, unspeakable acts while your parents are away.” Edd read Eddy like a book. Eddy still viewed the occasions when his parents were not home as occasions to go buck wild. Of course, they both agreed to keep their relationship a secret from Eddy’s parents until they are both fully grown.

“C’mon Sockhead!” Eddy put his arm around Edd, waggling one of his eyebrows “you know you want me and the lovin’ I can give ya.”

“You’re quite the charmer, Eddy. You really know how to woo a person,” Edd joked.

“At least let me carry you to bed,” Eddy replied suggestively.

“You’re going to carry me to bed now?” Edd could not help but gush over the thought. He squeaked as Eddy lifted him up and held him bridal style, “Eddy! I’m still carrying my schoolbooks and college acceptance letter!”

“You can set them down next to bed!” Eddy replied. Eddy carried Edd towards the door, wobbling as he walked. Edd did not weigh a lot, but Eddy’s sedentary lifestyle was getting the best of him. Edd and he were still two of the worst gym students at Peach Creek High. Eddy felt around for the doorknob and opened the door to his room. He wobbled over to his bed and sat Edd on it. Edd carefully sat his books and college acceptance letter near the nightstand.

“Where did you get accepted to college anyway?” Eddy asked, curiously.

Edd smiled, “I got accepted to Peach Creek Community College after I finish high school in two years.”

“You have the brains to go to college anywhere in this country and you pick to attend college in Peach Creek? Why?” Eddy asked.

“I picked Peach Creek Community College, because I want to stay here in Peach Creek with all of my friends and loved ones,” Edd replied, kissing Eddy on the cheek, “besides I’m sure to get hired as a teacher after college and that’s what counts.”

“You’re nuts,” Eddy joked and tweaked Edd’s nipples with his fingers. Edd moaned as Eddy embraced him on the bed. Edd could get lost in those expressive onyx colored eyes for hours. He felt safe in Eddy’s arms. Eddy spoke up again, “there’s something I’ve wanted to try out with you. Have you ever tried 69 before? I figured it would feel good for both of us.”

“No, I have not,” Edd answered honestly. “But I’m willing to try it out with you if that is what you want.”

“Just relax and follow my lead,” Eddy replied. Eddy let go of Edd and moved down towards Edd’s crotch. Eddy’s own was in front of Edd’s face. Eddy was carefully unzipping Edd’s pants when he felt Edd placing teasing caresses near Eddy’s already hardening cock. “H-Hey! Quit teasing, Sockhead!” Eddy moaned as he fumbled with the button on Edd’s pants. Once Edd’s pants were undone, Eddy freed Edd’s cock and sucked it greedily.

Edd moaned out when he felt slick vice against his shaft and that sinful tongue lick the head down the shaft like a favorite Popsicle. Edd quickly undid Eddy’s pants and went to work on Eddy’s erection with just as much fervor as Eddy. After a while, Eddy’s hips spasm and heard Eddy moan around his around, causing him to shudder from the vibration of the moan. Edd was sure that Eddy was moaning his name. Next Edd felt Eddy’s warm cum on his tongue. No matter how many times he performed fellatio on Eddy, he still could not tolerate the taste of cum. He quickly swallowed Eddy’s load and felt himself come undone within Eddy’s own mouth. Eddy was right; this act was pleasurable for both of them. 

A/N: And that’s a wrap!


End file.
